Essentially Esther

The web has another bright light; my mother. She gave into the encouragement from so many people and asked me to set up a blog for her. Essentially Esther is still under construction, but she should be posting in no time. Here is the email I received from her a few days ago:

John, when you get time you can set me up with a blog-site.  I have decided this year should get me back to MY writing.  I still have a lot I need to put on record of the family and all the roads I've traveled.  If you set me up and Becky will help me start, I'll join the two of you in the cyber-world.  There is so much about the Andersen family that would interest you kids.........we lived through some mighty powerful times.

I am looking forward to her writing and getting a written copy of the oral family history. If you would like a taste of her writing, I posted two of her pieces. The first is The Story Behind the Figurines. The second is called Amputee Ward. Eventually, I will scan her poetry and post it on her site. My mother has lived a life laced with many set backs and emotional blows - and not only is she still standing - she is happy. We can all learn from this sort of person. The internet is full of porn sites (I wouldn't know personally, but I have been told) and all kinds of vile things. There are hate sites and flat out weird and strange stuff. The internet also contains a lot of good things and Essentially Esther fits firmly into the latter category. She has come a long way since I received a first email from her. I nearly passed out when I realized the email was from my mother. I had harangued her for years to get a computer. I espoused all the great things about them, but she had the typical senior citizen paranoia about high tech. In the end, she may be right, but now she has come over to the dark side and it is too late for her to go back. She has to contend with spam, viruses, and penis enlargement offers like the rest of us, all grist for her blog writing mill.



Big football game down here in Louisiana. LSU vs. Oklahoma for the BCS title. Playoffs next week for my Kansas City Chiefs. Sorry about your Cowboys Don, but Parcells will have them deeper in the playoffs next year.



Until the next time

John Strain

A Few New Year's Pics

January 1st was a nice laid back day. The temperature was 70 and outside felt more like spring than New Year's Day. That is our weather though and I am not complaining. We never get used to cold, because it gets warm so quickly. To take advantage of the nice weather, Barbara and I took a nice 3 mile walk on the Tammany Trace, a bike / running trail connecting 5 cities and spanning about 40 miles.



Neal and I do a lot of our marathon training on the trace. No traffic or dogs to contend with and the surface is free of bumps, cracks, and pot holes. It is a scenic peaceful ribbon of asphalt running through the woods where railroad tracks once were. Sometimes we see egrets, rabbits, and deer.



If you want to see more January First photos go here.















I also am posting this photo of my mother and sister. Becky sent it to me thinking the blog buddies would like to see what mom looks like.



It is back to work for me Friday, but then the weekend. The holidays are just beginning for us. New Years fades into Mardi Gras. I will write much more about that later.



I hope your New Year's Day was an enjoyable, relaxing one.



Until the next time

John Strain

Installment One of Three Hundred, Sixty-Five

Yesterday I was looking back over 2003 (when I was not thinking about toilets), today I am looking forward at 2004. I check my email first thing and my inbox held three emails promising to help me lose weight. Even the spammers are aware of what most people do on this day - make resolutions, set goals, voice intentions, dream, and commit to change.



The good part of starting a diet, exercise plan, study plan, financial plan, fill in the blank plan, on January 1st, is you can say you have been doing it all year. The leaf has turned and the window of opportunity is there to do what you have wanted to do. We are only held back by our procrastination, which is formidable. There is nothing magic about January 1, we could turn over a new leaf on May 17th or August 30th, but we do not often think about change unless there is crisis or it is New Year's Day.



In looking ahead at 2004 I have no idea what it will hold. None of us do. We hope and pray it is a "good" year and we are healthy and have fun and avoid disaster. More than likely, though there will be some measure of tragedy and crisis we will have to address. It will come at the most inopportune time and test our resolve. I take comfort in the fact when crisis comes it is usually something I have had some experience with before. I have friends and family for comfort through that time and I feel I can deal with whatever comes down the pike. So, not to tempt fate, but I feel prepared if and when a personal challenge, crisis, tragedy does rear its ugly head.



We are people of habit and ruts. The rut may drive you crazy at times, but the same rut also gives your world order, comfort, and some predictability. A crisis jolts us out of the rut and when the problem goes away we are faced with the question - do I get back into the rut or not? You may be glad to resume "normal" life, but then again, you may have realized you have been wasting your time in the rut and it has been slowly taking all meaning and impetus for living.



In that sense, crisis and tragedy can have an upside. The Chinese symbols for crisis can also mean opportunity. The new year certainly carries the possibility of crisis and opportunity. Life happens to us and we make life happen. Both outlooks are true. We must work to make our life the way we want it and hope and pray the things beyond our control cooperate. Sometimes they do and sometimes they do not.



Here's to hoping your crises are few in 2004, but when they happen, may they teach you something valuable leaving you better in some way.



Until the next time

John Strain

Fixing the Toilet

Many people will blog about profound topics on this last day of the year. I am going to write about toilets. I have three of them not counting the trees in my yard. It is a guy thing to want to pee outside. It probably has something to do with freedom. Back to the point, I have three toilets and it seems one of them is always in need of repair.



The most annoying malfunction is when the flapper does not seat allowing the water to continue to run. I have to remind my guests to "jiggle the handle and it will stop running." One day I came home from work and the frigging thing had been running all day. My water bill almost doubled that month. I have tried to fix it and have experimented with shortening the chain, lengthening the chain, boring out the flapper connections where they connect to the shaft, and other ineffective interventions. The solution is probably to put another kit in the commode. I think I have one in my shed, but it always seems there is something better to do than fix a toilet. Besides, if I fixed the damn thing, one of the others would feel obliged to malfunction.



The toilet in the back of my house leaked in the wall. Instead of a floor drain, this toilet drains from the back. The sewer pipe comes up from the slab between the interior and exterior wall. When the leak started, I had to remove the wood siding on the outside of the house to fix it. This was a pain in the arse before I finished the job, but what home repair isn't usually a pain in the arse?



That pesky back toilet had me going a couple of weeks ago. It was not flushing so I got the plunger. I worked on it for 15 minutes or so before I figured out the tank was not filling high enough to make the toilet flush. The guts of this toilet were unfamiliar to me, but I finally figured out how to adjust the water level. There was an adjustment screw to handle that little task. No visible float or anything familiar in this toilet.



I had a burst of toilet ambition last spring and purchased new toilet seats for all three commodes. I would recommend this easy task to anyone interested in making their ordinary toilet a true throne. It made the morning constitutional something to look forward to for several weeks after that little upgrade. Now things are back to normal and the morning devotional has resumed its normal "ho hum" emotional reaction.



Speaking of toilet seats, I hate those fuzzy seat covers if they don't allow the lid to stay upright. It is a little more than inconvenient if I am standing there taking care of business only to have the seat come crashing down in the middle of my task. This extra fluffy seat condition is especially prominent at the houses of grandmothers.



I think I just stumbled onto my New Year's resolution - to fix my commodes. I probably could have fixed one of them in the time it took me to write this post.



OK enough toilet talk. This is the last day of the year. It has been a good year for me and I have been writing this blog since July 19. Happy New Year everyone. May your 2004 be filled with happiness and the things you want and need most. I am looking forward to more time reading your blogs and getting your feedback and support. Serendipity means an unexpected find. Blogging has certainly done that for me. I had no idea I would be making friends.



Here's to all of you and to a Happy New Year



Until Next Year

John Strain

December 30th

December 30, 199something I went out for one drink after work and got home at 5 AM. What a night. Unable to wait for the traditional party night of New Year's Eve, it seemed appropriate to have a warm up on New Year's Eve Eve. All day at work we spread the word to let people know where we were to meet for a drink. Linda and I got to the place first and she ordered a beer. I ordered a beer and a shot of tequila. "Make that two shots of tequila," Linda said, not to be outdone. The night got better from that point on.



Coworkers trickled in and we had a drink or two. Barbara was there, but had to leave to pick John up at school. A large group of us ate dinner since it was getting on in the evening. We feasted on fried seafood and assorted appetizers. Some of the group thinned out, but me and a few others were not ready to call it a night.



One of the folks there lived nearby and had a nice house on the river, so the party moved to her place. We continued drinking and snacking until there were only four of us left. Barbara had to take John home and gave me her blessing to stay and enjoy myself.



About midnight, we thought it wise to take a moonlight canoe ride. The weather was unseasonably warm - upper 50's so we walked down to the dock and loaded into the canoe. I was in the bow and straight away we ran into some brush which caused a small cut on my forehead. Though it was dark, the sky between the two banks was a ribbon of light and guided us on our tour. I do not think I could convey how much fun this was. We were laughing and talking and paddling down the river at midnight.



Along the way there were splashes in the river. They were frequent enough, we all tried to explain the phenomenon, but were at a loss. It sounded like a bowling ball being dropped from a three story building. To this day, we have no clue what it was. We made our turn and headed back home still laughing and having a great time. When we got back to the dock we all got out of the canoe and I was walking back to the house when I heard a splash and more laughter. Linda had backed off the dock and fell in the river. She was drenched and we all were laughing so hard it was difficult to stand. Linda got in the house and was issued some dry clothes.



Time for more drinks and chile. After that we sat in the living room in front of a roaring fire. It was so peaceful, what a night. The next thing I remember was waking up. You know the feeling of waking up in a strange place, I was trying to figure out where I was. The fire was still burning, but day was dawning. I had laid down by the couch and went to sleep. Linda was asleep on the couch. The other two people had gone into a room to sleep - they were a couple already. I checked my watch and it was about 5 AM. I thought, "uh oh, Barbara is going to kill me." I shook Linda to wake her up and when she realized what I had just a few moments before, she had a similar reaction. We got up and left. Linda dropped me off and I went to bed.



Barbara did not know how late I had been out. The next day she asked me. "You were out pretty late, when I got up at 1:30 AM you were still gone." I replied, "yeah, I got home at 5 AM." Then I added this line thinking it would be funny, "I was sleeping with Linda." Barbara did not respond as I had anticipated. She was pissed. Not bad though, I think she felt obligated to get chapped under the circumstances.



I talked to one of the other people there the next day and compared notes. He said when he got up in the AM he noticed chile bowls in the sink. "Oh, ya'll had chile last night?" he said. His friend responded, "you ate some too." "No, I didn't," he said, then he burped and said, "you're right, I did."



All in all it was a classic night. Friends, eating, drinking, midnight canoe ride, getting in trouble with the spouse. It doesn't get much better than that. Every December 30th I remember that night fondly as I am sure the other three do. It is a bond we will share like being trapped in an elevator together or getting food poisoning from the same restaurant.



That year, New Year's Eve was an anti climax. You just never know when one drink after work will turn into a legendary night and a bond among friends.



Until the next time

John Strain