Use Google? Read this and act now to protect your privacy

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/why-you-might-want-to-delete-your-google-browser-history-before-next-week/

Poor man's fish tank...

How does a poor lad fill this giant fish bowl?

That's right, get your fishing pole and head for the pond. K8 used his Christmas money from Grandma to buy fishing gear, and when Dan went out today with his cast net to get some Bluegill for the aquarium, K8 thought he would help.

Let me tell you about the big one that almost came close to my hook, I think it was a Black Crappie.

Let's build an apartment

Deja vu! It feels like old times while building our home back in 2010 and living in the basement while K2 frames another master piece.

Not your typical law school student as he spends his vacation building an apartment for KT and Dan. Got delayed by snow storm, but he accomplished a lot when the snow melted. He has walls framed for the mechanical room, the full bathroom, storage hallway, and the apartment and its closet. He has to return to school and books today, so Dan will finish up the ceiling work, after which we can have the plumber and electrician come do their part before K2 comes back next month on another school break to help insulate and drywall. We have oak flooring left over from our construction of the house which we will use here.

Snow is only temporary.

This was our corral early last Tuesday morning. Cold and still a few inches of snow left from Monday's storm.

Same corral later in the day is a sea of mud as the temperature rose to 50.

Blue skies over our full parking lot.

Washing machine saga

Do not buy this particular Kenmore brand washer, which is manufactured by Whirlpool. It is cheap, light-weight, and prone to frequent malfunctions. How do I know? I speak from experience having owned 2 of them in the past 8 months. Bought the first one in May 2011 to replace our old reliable Kenmore work horse that died after 10-15 years. Since I grew up trusting the Kenmore brand from Sears, I bought a new one. Little did I know that the simple, reliable mechanical type washers of my youth have all been replaced with new fangled electronic circuitry machines with delicate electronic sensors. 

The new washer lasted less than 2 months and stopped functioning in July. Sears replaced it with an identical model, which then required 2 major repairs itself at great inconvenience to us. While awaiting the latest repair this week, with dirty laundry piling up rapidly, both K2 and Mom spent hours on the phone with multiple Sears employees around the Nation seeking a better solution - which we finally got! If we would bring the "lemon" to the Big City and pay a little more money, we could upgrade to a much better machine. That is exactly what I did yesterday.   

While in the Big City, K8 and I had a few neat experiences. First, while waiting at a traffic light, we saw a bunch of heads and arms pop out of a car across the big, busy intersection, and start waving at us. It was the Allen kids from our Church. Then, after lunch, K8 and I stopped at Barnes and Noble book store and bumped into another Church family from our small town.

Finally got home with the new washer and hooked it up. It is a Kenmore Elite manufactured by LG, which is one of the top brands our repair tech recommended we get. And it was on sale for 40% off! Yes, it was a GOOD DAY.

A Chocolate a Day May Keep Cancer Away, and Lower Chance of Stroke

Finally! Vindication for a life-long addiction fondness for CHOCOLATE!

Check out the two articles at the links below:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/a-chocolate-a-day-may-keep-cancer-away-190601.html

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/chocolate-lovers-stroke-29677.html

Snow Day #2

After 2 hours of morning animal chores, with school cancelled for 2nd day in a row, K7 finds ways to relax and have fun.

More snow boarding before it all melts.

Yes, he is wearing shorts.