Why I Oughta...

Over the weekend, the kids and I piled into the minivan and ran some errands around town that included a bunch of stops at various garage sales in and around Elmhurst.  On one of those stops, I came across this little angel ornament.   She has those *big* eyelashes.  They totally remind me of these 'lashes on this reindeer ornament that I found a few years back . Sure, she's cute, but when I turned her over, I was sold.  After all, this thing was, indeed, made in Japan, but exclusively for Lee Wards in Elgin, Illinois .   The asking price?  A mere $0.25.  She's gone to a good home and will (hopefully??) make an appearance on our tree this year (or...if we're still not in our house, then maybe next year!

Best pool pass photo ever?  Probably not. But, the best one *I've* ever taken?  Certainly.

I picked up this "Neutron Irradiated Dime" from the Museum of Atomic Energy at an Estate Sale here in Elmhurst earlier this Spring.  My dad collected some coins over the years - and gave away proof sets for special occasions.  I found this story about these irradiated dimes and there were more than million of them, so they're not terribly rare. But, that doesn't matter much to me.  I liked the looks of it and it just screams 'atomic age' from the looks of it, doesn't it?  I've stuck it into my stashbox for now and figure that's a fine place to keep it for the next few decades. Turns out, this is from Oak Ridge, Tennessee.   At least, I *think* it is, even though the name of the museum is different on the coin I have.   More about the place : The American Museum of Science & Energy is today’s No. 1 Oak Ridge, TN tourist destination. But from 1941 to 1949 Oak Ridge was a town that did not exist. It was one of the top secret facilities

So, guys!  I have some fun news.  As part of an outreach campaign, the fine folks from Husqvarna have selected *this guy* to test out one of their Automowers .  They're having one delivered and if I comply with some asks (posting photos on social media, etc), I'll get to keep the mower.   So, that's pretty awesome, right? The plan was for the Automower to be delivered in May and then use it all summer and have me document my experience here on the blog and on social (Twitter, Instagram).  I'm all for it!  But...I've had a little bit of an issue with *actually* getting the Automower.  Between some delays and then some scheduling confusion with the dealer in Roselle, my poor lawn (and kids!), who I have been bragging to about our soon-to-arrive lawn robot overlord, are starting to wonder if we'll ever get to see this thing in action.  I'm hoping we can get it figured out and the Automower will be in service next week! In the meantime, the fine folks at H

Today's "Throwback Thursday" post is the latest in the series here on the blog featuring some photos that I recovered from Flickr and transferred to Google Photos recently.   You can see the details here, including a photo of Da Mare and myself at the Joan ! These photos in this post are from October of 2005 and are from a fundraiser that was for my campaign for re-election to the Frankfort Village Board held at Die Bier Stube in Frankfort.  As you can see, the 'guest of honor' that night was former Illinois Governor Jim Thompson.  Yeah...pretty cool, right? How this came about is an interesting story about my time in politics - both at the local level as a Village Trustee, and in State politics as the driver and digital hack for Tom Cross, the then House Minority Leader in Illinois. Over the course of a few years and during dinners, time at the GOP convention, and assorted other what-have-yous, I was able to get to know The Governor and his right-hand-ma

At the Memorial Day Parade in Elmhurst over the weekend, I grabbed two packets of these Milkweed seeds.  Those of you who have been paying attention to the plight of the Monarch Butterfly know that they're in trouble and gardeners in Illinois can help by planting Milkweed.  (BTW, this isn't the first time I've covered butterflies on the blog.   Here's a post about our Butterfly project from back in 2013 .) Over the past few decades, Monarch populations have decreased by over 90%.  Yeah!  90%?!!?  And it is happening for two reasons:  weather and habitat.  We can't control the weather, but we CAN control the availability of the right habitat for these guys.  And the right habitat is all about Milkweed. That means that backyard gardeners need to start thinking about dedicating a space for cultivating Milkweed and thanks to the First Congressional United Church in Elmhurst ( who was giving out these seeds at the parade), I'm going to do just that!  But...now

These pair of merry guys with pretty nice mustaches were found up in Coloma at our usual haunt.  They're Christmas ornaments and were sold in a pair for just fifty cents.  The one on the right with the red hat is missing a pearl pin in the center of his hat on the front, but otherwise, these things are in pretty great shape.  Especially for being decades old.  Hard to believe that someone kept them for all these years only to let them go for just a quarter a piece? They'll go great with the rest of our vintage Christmas stuff , won't they?

Well...Thanks Google!  Look at what they sent me recently for being a participant in their Local Guides program :  Free Google Drive Upgrade to 1 TB.  Granted, it is only for 2 years, but still a nice little perk for being a Local Guide Level 4 . See below for the current state of my usage of storage at Google.  I'm currently at 38 GB of storage used.  And now with my 1.1 Terabyte storage allocation, I'm using a paltry 3% of the available storage.  Great googly moogly! That's a lot of photos and documents and videos.     Before this upgrade, I was on the $1.99/month 100 GB plan and I was using almost 40% of that.  I think I can cancel my $1.99/month now, right?  Lose that .1 in the number? Wonder how the renewal works.  Do I have to maintain my Level 4 status somehow?  According to the storage page, the 1 TB/month plan costs $9.99/month, so let's call it almost a $250 gift. #ThanksGoogle!

Found this at an Estate Sale in Elmhurst along with some 70's era Shell Oil/NFL themed drink glasses and couldn't pass it up.  It is still full and how about those graphics on the front of this can?!?! If I'm being honest, this can isn't quite a perfect fit with our other vintage Christmas stuff (mostly Santa figures), but it will look cute in our china cabinet along with the other vintage holiday/Christmas stuff, won't it?  And, it was just $0.25. And, you guys know that I have a soft spot for things that I feel like I am rescuing. Meaning...rescuing them from the dumpster.  If *I* didn't buy this old can of spray-on snow, I'm thinking nobody would.  And it would have disappeared.  Maybe one of my kids will have an affinity for it as they grow up - and they'll value and be attracted to some old things like Nat and I are today.  Or...maybe it will end up in a dumpster eventually anyway. No matter.  It has at least a (temporary??) new lease on li

That's our 'Welcome' sign as it sits today in a kind of nook on the side of our temporary home at Vic/Equation Boy/Man's house.  It is around the side of their front porch on the driveway side.  And I planted it there right after I took it out of our yard when we were leaving our old house.  And it has stayed there ever since. Here's a post showing the same sign over four years ago when we got it .  Kind of poetic, isn't it?  That the same sister who gave me the sign has given us her home while they're gone?  And the sign basically came home? And thanks to Google Photos, here's a collage photo of them both together: The sign has aged a bit and has some rusting/pitting on the front of it, but otherwise has stood up pretty well to the conditions.  It has spent all four seasons planted outside.  Hoping, once we figure out what we're doing, it'll come with us to our new home and find a spot in the front to welcome our future guests there.