Silver Liningness Sunday

Our summer ended with weeks of blistering heat followed by a hundred year flood.  This first week of fall has been much more stable and dreamier.  We also got our first snow on the Peak this week.

It actually snows up there year-round.  The summit of Pikes Peak really has its own separate climate from us lowlanders, but it's this first major covering that always gets people snapping pics.

Speaking of snapping pics, we finally got us a decent camera this week.  Magnum found a sweet online deal, and we snapped it up (get it?  "snapped" it up??).  It's a Canon EOS Rebel T3.  I personally haven't read many reviews or such because Magnum usually does that stuff before making a purchase.  It's like the way Burger King just builds wherever McDonald's does because McDonald's does all the market research.
Magnum is my McDonald's.

I need to learn how to use it yet.  Maybe I'll play around with it later today.  Toad photos anyone?

I finally got around to visiting another PEO chapter this week and plan to visit another soon.  Apparently, my name has made the list of People-To-Call-Because-They'll-Actually-Come-Visit-When-Invited.  My phone's been ringing crazily lately.

In movie news, we watched Side Effects, which I think I liked.  It was a bit creepy and disturbing involving evil people.  But there are several plot twists to hold the attention, and I'm happy to watch Jude Law do just about anything.

Wolfgang graced us with his presence for a while this weekend.  He needed a haircut, and I was happy to oblige.

And I finally got around to getting my eyes checked.  It's been about 5 years since my last prescription and I noticed having a bit of trouble seeing the board in class.  Turns out, my eyes haven't changed all that much.  Maybe the instructor just has messy writing?
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royal b*tch

Yesterday, I was leaving school after class.  I had a happy run in with Chaco, as he was on his way to a class near where the trusty Tessa was parked.  He actually stopped to chat a bit (it wasn't a heavily travelled area, no friends about to see him chatting with his mom).

It'd been a nice week, with the lighter tuting schedule and all.  It was a nice day out, too.  I was heading home to kick off the remainder of dumb Friday when this car came up behind me.  I could tell he was speeding, but figured he'd slow down because he had to.  

He ended up blowing past me and nearly sideswiping a car coming in the opposite direction.  He looked agitated, and in hindsight, I think he might have been lost and not realizing that he was on a university campus.  He was an oldish white-haired man.  After he sped past me, he had to abruptly stop to allow several student pedestrians to cross at a crosswalk, and this seemed to agitate him all the more.

Then he sped off, and I guess I'll never know his story.

And I was left feeling all, WTH?  He'd nearly ran me off the road, right in front of the upper classmen dorms - an area of shared roads for motorists and bicycles.

So I continued on home all razzum frazzum razzum frazzum...  

And when I got home, I was congratulated by my mapmyride app.

I've made Queen of the Mountain for one course that is part of my commute home.  The one that seemed out of reach.  At last.  I'd beaten my previous PR by 9 seconds, thus surpassing the previously long-reigning queen.  

I could say it was my superior conditioning and strategizing and hard work that pushed me up that hill, but I'm pretty sure it was the grumpy old driving man that fueled me.  

So, thank you Mr. Grumpy Road Hazard.  But, I still don't like him.

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at daycare

Sometimes it seems like a whole 'nother lifetime.  In a way, I suppose it was.

I perused the writing prompts over at Mama Kat's for this week, and nothing was really speaking to me, but then I went back to:

3.) It happened at daycare

I left my perfectly good job with my perfectly good bosses and perfectly good co-workers and perfectly good salary because I didn't like taking my kids to daycare.  Even though I also had a perfectly good daycare provider.  It just wasn't the same.

So I retired, and figured, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!  I opened up my little home daycare.

My perfectly good daycare provider was always in high demand, and she set me up right away with a few little clients and we were off.

A couple of times, one of the dads would give me a disposable camera when he dropped his son off and ask me to take a few pics during our day.  This was before digital cameras and cell phones - see it really was a lifetime ago!  He'd get the photos developed and get a set for me too.

So this prompt sent me looking for a few of those photos.

Hugs

Snacks

Laughter

Boogers

Funny pronunciations 

Diapers

Messes

Barney

Tears

More hugs

Putting on snowsuits

Taking off snowsuits

Juice cups, juice cups, more juice cups

Fun!

Naptime

Gratitude for naptime

Sweetness

Good times


It happened at daycare.  And now, they're all college boys.

When did that happen?
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Monday Morning Murder

The thing I found most unexpected was how quiet they were about it.  They made no sound, even as their victim kicked and screamed and protested.  They were perfectly silent.

I witnessed some domestic violence yesterday.  I know these things happen, but I'd never watched it unfold in real time like that.  It was different than on TV and in the movies.

The neighbors to our left are a large and friendly family.  So many live there that sometimes I lose track of them all.

Yesterday started like any other.  I was getting dressed when I heard some squabbling going on in the neighbor's back yard.  From my bedroom window, I can see partially into their yard, and as I glanced over, I saw that, indeed, one of the girls was arguing with a couple of the boys.

Now, this particular girl and her sister have never gotten along with those two boys.  But, they're all in the same family, and have just kept out of each other's way to keep the peace I suppose.  So I don't know what happened.  Someone overstepped the boundaries, clearly.

Next thing I knew, they were on her.  She never stood a chance.

Thoughts of,  "Yikes, should I call?  Ring the doorbell?  Alert the parents or someone?", but even as I thought those things, I knew it was too late for her.  Those boys, like I said, were so quiet.  Methodical as they worked as a team and did the deed .  My only hope was that it would be over quickly, for her sake.

And for my sake too, as I listened to her screams.

Later, I investigated to see if Meego knew about what happened.   He rides the school bus with one of the girls.

"So... I think the dogs killed one of the chickens next door...?", I prompted.

"Yeah, one of them got out of the coop or the dogs got in somehow", he confirmed.

It's actually not the first time there's been a murder over there.

But now I must deal inwardly with what I witnessed.

Chicken screams, I keep hearing them!
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Silver Liningness Sunday

I think today is the first day of fall.  Weather's been very nice this week.  I like fall, we should have a party.

I've been busier than I prefer with the back-to-school tuting season and my own back-to-school times.  After this past week, my schedule now includes more breathing room which is nice.    I've finished up with the latest crop of test prep students and am now down to just two:  Son of Cookie Lady and The Princess.

The Princess was originally supposed to be finished this week too, but reality ruled.  I had to be honest with her and her mom.  She wasn't ready, and there was just no point in her taking her college entrance test this weekend.

Then, I had this dilemma since I hadn't anticipated working with her beyond this week.  But it turns out she's "really connected with me" and didn't want to switch tutors.  We've managed to work a few sessions out.

It's all been good for her, though, and I've noticed her being more serious and less princess-like since the revelation.  Her questions to me are much more mature now and no longer of the, "What should I do if a really cute guy sits next to me at the test? *giggle*"  variety.  {my eyes rolling}.

In other news, Bella was in need of some new brake pads and general TLC after her week of fighting the rain and mud wars.  I remembered seeing this tip somewhere, and totally used it:

I don't need no stinkin' bike stand!  I've got an ironing board!  Worked like a charm.

Happy Autumnal Equinox - Season's Greetings!

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shoes to skin

I've decided to play along again for this week's Mama Kat Thursday, and I've chosen the prompt:

2.) Take a picture every hour and show us what a day in your life is like.

Even to this day, I've always liked books with pictures, so why not a blog post with pictures?

My day typically starts with some sort of exercise to get things moving and work out the kinks that take up residence overnight - either running or attempting to beef up my noodle arms.  This morning I went for a run.  And yes, this is a totally recycled photo from a post wondering why my running shoes  have reflectors on the tops of them.  

After a shower, breakfast, and send-off to Magnum to work and, now, the lone Meego to school, I go through the e-mail, check a few blogs, then I'm off to class.

Clear blue skies and dry, mud-free bike lanes to get me there.  Wheeeee!!

It's nice on campus in the morning hours with a few sleepy students shuffling around.  Especially on mornings when it's not pouring down rain.

I'm taking three classes, and the schedule is such that I'm (supposed to be) there each weekday.  My favorite class is my math class, which I guess is a good thing since I'm doing this to be a math teacher.  My teacher classes are pretty ho-hum.  It feels like I should've been able to "test out" of them since I've already had a decent pile of teaching experience, but I expect things to improve and am trying to be patient.

After class, I return home and have enough time to grab some lunch, get a bit of housewifery done, and get cleaned up for my next stop.  I usually indulge in a bit of recreational reading for reward after my morning in academia.  Here's my current book:

I just grabbed it from the "New Fiction" shelf at the library.  I'm still deciding if I like it or not.

After being nourished, cleaned up, and fictionally indulged, most afternoons, I head out to the funner part of my teaching classes.  Go play teacher, for about an hour, at either the elementary or middle school.

Elementary school

Middle school

Fifth grade math in Mr. H's class and 8th grade algebra in Mrs. D's class.

These days, except for dumb Fridays, I go tutor in the late afternoons or evenings.  I meet with my students in local study rooms. Here is the view as I waited for my tutee at the community college library.

That guy out there looks like he's working hard, but I think he was watching video of Miley Cyrus.

Finally, after class and tutin', it's home with the fam, which nowadays has more pets than people.  

Last night, we discovered that King Reese had grown out of his skin again.  As I rummaged around for the sheddings, Napolion figured it was all toys for him.  I think he's more monkey than cat.

There!  Eight pictures for eight hours.  

Okay, it was more than eight hours, so I didn't play by the exact rules, so dock my pay.  I was thinking that nobody wanted to see the dirty clothes I laundered and folded or the cat box I cleaned, among other things.

You're welcome.

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feels good!

The sun is out!  Could this be the beginning of the dry out?  Either way, I hung my shoes on the clothesline for some good sun exposure.  Those are my shoes from last Friday's ride to class.  They're still damp!  Camp Dry was no match.

It rained more all weekend and again yesterday, but not as hard.  This morning, I went out for a run and was so pleased to see stars.

As for our mini rainforest, the Fire Belly Toads have been quite busy.  They really do bark.  Sound like dogs.  I still have trouble telling them apart from one viewing to the next, but we know that at least one is male and one is female.  In addition to being Fire Belly Toads, they also seem to be... uhm... Horny Toads.

Meego wants babies, but I don't know where we'd put them.  He says we can put the tadpoles in the fish aquarium, but I know my zombie apocalypse fish would eat them.

So we shot a little video action.  Please note that we didn't intend to shoot a porno!  We actually just wanted to film them barking, but they had other things in mind.  Nature's way and all that.







It seems that everyone in the household is happy it's stopped raining.

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Silver Liningness Sunday

It's been an interesting week, alotta water.  I'm thankful that it's not raining at the moment.

In fact, yesterday gave us a bit of a break with just some sprinkles in the afternoon and evening.  Magnum and I took China for her beauty walk in the morning.  China says, "Oops, where'd the trail go??"

All this Nature's Wrath business is a good reminder of how little we are, and I am thankful for the flood mitigation that actually did its job.  

Speaking of little things, Vivarium de Meego continues to progress.  We have critters!

Three Fire Bellied Toads have moved in!  We have no idea what sex any of them are, but Meego says these two shown above often do this bit where the one on the left sits at the edge of the water and the larger one on the right sits in the water and they have a stare down.  

It's probably either foreplay or a fight brewing.  Once they make the next move, maybe we'll know boys, girls, or what.

Chaco and Wolfgang both graced me with their presences yesterday.  Chaco stopped by for a haircut, catching up, and cash.  Wolfgang and I went out for a few provisions.  All the while he animatedly told me how much he's enjoying living on campus and new friends and activities.

After three weeks in, he's also ready to declare mechanical engineering as his major (squeee!).  And he happily told me about a new girlfriend while I tried not to be too prying.  Figured I'd just lurk her on facebook later... which I did.  Mom-approved so far.

Geesh, how did our parents function before the internet?
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duck dancing

Hay Carumba!  I've never seen so much rain in my life!

Even when we lived in Rochester, NY, which is the home of Kodak Headquarters and where the local joke is that it's "The World's Biggest Darkroom".  No, even when we lived there, I never saw so much rain.  Not all at once anyways.

Remember this Colorado meme?

Well, here's the latest one:

So I'm sick of rain now.  Never thought I'd say that here.  I mean, I still and will always like rain, but a bit of a recess would be nice.  My heart goes out to the people who have lost property or worse.

I've never known schools to be closed for "rain days", but several had to close today.  There are just so many roads that are either flooded or totally washed away.  And my and Magnum's Alma Matre, CU Boulder, was literally deluged and has been closed for two days.  I feel for the parents who just sent their little freshmen up there.  How nerve racking.

BUT, I've managed to... well, manage.

After the atypical rain took me by surprise for my commute to school and sent me to the dreaded shuttle bus on Wednesday, I made a few adjustments.  I've bicycled myself to class the last two days, when at times it was rather like submarining in.

I nabbed a DriDucks jacket that I found in Chaco or Wolfgang's stash (it's all a collective mess, pretty much), and I MUST sing its praises!

That stuff is The Bomb!  Super duper lightweight, but kept me dry as the naked part of a duck!

Thursday, I wore the jacket over a pair of nylon adidas windpants.  Mother Nature totally laughed at the nylon adidas windpants.  They didn't last 30 seconds before being completely saturated.  See figure 1.

Figure 1

Figure 1 represents just after I arrived back home.  I know the photo is grainy/blurry, but the only ones available to take it were China, Napolion, King Reese, or the unnamed fish.  Right, like fish could take a photo...

Anyway, Napolion took it as he's the smartest of the bunch.

The point is, everything covered by the DriDucks jacket is dry as Colorado in June.  The adidas nylon windpants are embarrassed.

So, it was back to the drawing board (closet) for a little tweaking.




I found a rainsuit that was probably Chaco's from when he was about in 7th grade.  I don't know the brand, it's just made of basic rubbery stuff.  The pants were a bit short, but would do.  I wore them with the DriDucks jacket for this day of delugional bicycle commuting.

Success!

This time the dryness went all the way down to about mid-shin where the rain pants stopped.  Good enough.

In other rain gear test results:

• Spraying shoes with Camp Dry does nothing if rain enters them through the ankles.  
• I think I now know where THE most powerful hand dryers on campus are located.  
• Wearing unpleasantly damp shoes for about two and a half hours does not cause trenchfoot.

Not liking the rain, but at least I got my ducks in a row.
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shuttle mission

And so endeth the streak.

Yeah, in just two and a half weeks!  Over.  I drove to class today.  *sigh*.

See, my plan is to never ever drive to class.  I won't go into detail, but bottom line, the university is not conducive to car commuters.  Enrollment has exploded in recent years and the parking spaces haven't kept up.

In fact, I know it's surprising to some that Chaco and Wolfgang live on campus even though we are just a few miles away.  I've mentioned that it's been good for them, to get their independence and responsibility... to get that whole "college experience", etc.  And those are nice secondary effects, especially since they are full-time students.

The primary reason they live there, though, is the parking situation.

ANYWAY, back to ME!

My plan is to never ever drive to class.  Option (a) is to bicycle commute.  Option (b) is to take the metro bus, which has a convenient economical route from nearby our house, right to campus.  A distant distant option (c) is for me to drive to one of the shuttle lots.

So here's a thing.  I don't have actual hard statistics, but I can say that the frequency of rain in the morning around here is:  hardly ever.   We might get rain every day for several days in a row, but it's almost always in the afternoon, maybe evening.  Morning? Oh pshaw!

Today was a hardly ever day.

It was cloudy and rain was forecast, but it was morning!  So I was all set to go when, about five to ten minutes before I planned to leave, the skies just OPENED!  To the point where I thought it actually a little unsafe to bicycle in - low visibility, puddles/mud, slippery brakes...  And, oh heckfire, it's too late for me to catch the metro bus.  Shucks!

I drove to shuttle lot choice 1:  Full.  I drove to shuttle lot choice 2:  Full.  I drove to shuttle lot choice 3:  Surprisingly not full.  Note to self for future reference:  Don't bother with shuttle lots of choices 1 and 2.

I hopped on a shuttle that took us up the lung burner hill and up the thigh buster hill, and there I was with the other downtrodden commuters.  And the conversations!  What is it with some young adults these days?!

About how he told her he didn't want a relationship, but his grandma really liked her because his last girl was a b*tch, and how he told her he didn't want a relationship but she still wanted to hang out and how she got all cuddly kissy but then he told her that "friends don't do that" but she said it was okay if he didn't want a relationship she just enjoyed hanging out which translates to getting cuddly kissy which translates to...

And I'm all "Seriously, I can hear everything you're saying!"

Most of the other shuttle rats, though, I noticed, had earbuds in.  Is that proper shuttle etiquette?  Put in earbuds so the sordid details - some of which I bet were slightly *COUGH* exaggerated - are heard only by the intended audience?

So that was my commuter experience today.  I hope to not have to resort to the distant Option (c) again.  Need to plan a little better.

The commute time was right about the same as with the bicycle.  Just not nearly as fun.  And I don't need the drama.

Grandma sounds fun, though.
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Silver Liningness Sunday

It's still annoyingly hot, but I vaguely remember whining about the cold spring and thinking ahead to when I'd be whining about the oppressive heat.  Here we are!  It reminds me that I'm grateful to live in such an ever-changing climate.  Keeps us on our toes.

Last week while we were out researching jungle plants, we stopped for gas.  Magnum was out pumping when the flow suddenly stopped after only two gallons.  I thought, "Oh great, we broke the gas station".

Turns out, someone had prepaid two gallons for that pump and left.  Magnum did think it strange that he was never prompted to swipe the credit card.  Random act of kindness?  We're going with that.

And speaking of jungle plants, Vivarium de Meego is coming along quite nicely.

It now houses a friendly little waterfall, some river rock, primal looking foliage, and some comfy moss.  Next up are the critters, which may move in later today.  There will also be smaller critters whose job is to love one another and provide food for the larger critters.  Circle of life and all that.

As for my Aquarium of Death, things seem to be in a post-apocalypse rebuilding stage.  I've been giving it a little extra TLC to wipe out the plague, and it seems to be working.  The three remaining fish are thriving, the plants are flourishing, and I'm considering getting another plecostomus to replace Hot Lips who fell victim to armageddon.  

This after I'd decided that I would convert it to a saltwater tank when the End Times were complete.  Figures.  

Twelve more days of full-schedule tuting and taking classes, but who's counting?  I'll just heed the advice I think of when considering the student mentioned in yesterday's post.

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Hidden

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "hidden", and my submission is really hidden.  It's so hidden, it's nonexistent.  I win!

I've decided that, until after this round of fall college admission testing is over and my tutor schedule is clear, I'm on hiatus from Illustration Friday.  I sat down this morning to do "some" homework and ended up completing the whole dang packet.  I rather think it's a work of art, but I won't post it here.

And I have to vent a little about this current tutee who has total princess syndrome.  Is that a thing?  TPS?  Well, it is to me!  If I have to listen to one more story about how cute and popular and desired she is, I won't be responsible for my actions.   No wonder she has such sh*tty test scores, there are no questions on there about HER.

Okay, I've vented.  And thankful that I enjoyed a nice run this morning (sorry ShadowRun!), or it would've been worse.

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jammin'

Our first time was a bit surprising and awkward and weird.  I really didn't expect it to happen so soon, actually, but in hindsight, I don't know why.

So I guess when that first time actually did come about, I wasn't quite prepared.  I mean, I guess I was physically okay with it, but mentally, I wasn't prepared.  One minute, I was just there.  In the moment.  Just going with the flow.  And suddenly, there he was.  Just looking at me.  Kind of big eyed.

It was just a split second, really.  That moment when we knew.  There it was.  There we were.

"Hello", he said.  Still with the big eyes, but not breaking stride.

"Hello", I said back, my own eyes feeling big.  A bit of a smile teasing at my mouth as the moment was blanketed with humor.  And I kept walking.  Best to keep walking.  For his sake.

Yep, I saw Wolfgang at college yesterday.

I had left my class and was on my way out of the building, walking with the flow of humanity.  I think I was fiddling with a strap on my backpack or something when I felt a "presence" that caused me to look up.  Wolfgang was walking in the opposite flow of humanity, on his way to a class, and we passed like two ships in the night.

He's been happy to have me and/or Magnum at school events, but I think mom-as-fellow-college-student was still a bit weird at that point.

But I saw him again this morning.  Similar circumstance, only it was a different building, and I was the one going to class while he was the one leaving.  Much more relaxed exchange today, after having that "first" out of the way.

So I'm using that event as a stretch to hook up with Mama Kat this week for the prompt:  4.) First day of school!

It's not really the first DAY of school, but it's a first of a sort.

Chaco's told me that most of his classes start later in the day from when mine end, so it's less likely that I'll run into him.  He did tell me that he saw Tessa parked, so I know he's up and about at least some of the time I'm there.

Speaking of Tessa, today was "Bike Jam" day on campus - kicking off a month-long bike fest to promote health and wellness and bicycle commuting.  I think I've mentioned before what a nightmare the parking situation is at the university, so while it tries to build more parking access, it's also trying to cut down on motorized vehicles.  Bike Jam!

So I got all registered for contests and giveaways.  I got a packet of stuff and other freebies - food, water bottles, that cute pin for my backpack...

I also noticed this strange little number parked near me:

It's a folding electro-bike.

Now, I'm a purist, so not really into the electro-bikes.  Foldups are second only to recumbents in my opinion of ghastly pedaled vehicles.  If you look closely at the pic, though, you might see that this foldup electro has a HUGE chain lock.  Someone really doesn't want this messed with.

It should be noted that this was parked at the engineering building...

Yeah, so far college is a lot like I remember it from the first go 'round.

A lot of fun if not for those pesky classes and work...
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the Tuesday after

An adult human head weighs around 10 pounds, but you could've fooled me on Sunday.  I swear mine weighed 50 or so.

I suffer seasonal allergies off an on during this time of year (weeds), but they're usually something a couple snorts of Zicam can easily thwart.  Sunday, though, I woke up with the extra poundage.  I don't think it was allergies alone.  I think a cold virus snuck in and conspired with my allergies to wage a major snot war.

Really, I must've discharged about five gallons or more of the stuff throughout the day.  And that's mostly all I remember from Sunday, although I do see that I managed a blog post.

I don't remember feeling particularly "sick".  In fact, I'm pretty sure I went for a bike ride in the morning, and we did some shopping of some sort for Meego's vivarium.  But the day is all a bit of a blur because of the 50-lb. head.

Yesterday, I felt much more myself and spent most of the day engaging in cleaning house and other forms of housewifery.  So much for holiday weekends.

Today, my one class was cancelled - the university gave us an extra Labor Day day.  Something to do with keeping the MWF classes even with the TTH ones, well whatever, we had a free day.  Then the mom of my Tuesday tutee called.  The tutee had her wisdom teeth removed late last week, and her head was still throbbing.  Could we reschedule this week?

And just like that, I found myself with a Dumb Tuesday!

...not that I did anything particularly Dumb/Special.

In summary, I ran some errands, saw Chaco (he involved one of the errands), partook of a bit more of the housewifery, read some of my current novel, and had a nap.  Good times.

I thought to do some lesson planning, but then...

Yay for Dumb days.
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Silver Liningness Sunday

Happy final week of August.  I don't know about other places, but it's been HOT around here lately.  I'm ready to put August behind us!

After getting all the kids established back to school, this week was my turn.  One week in, and I'm happy with my decision to go back to the halls of edumcation.

I was being a bit of an ingrate, grousing about Cookie Lady asking me to tutor her son.  But really, I do love teaching.  That's the main reason I find it so hard to say "no" when someone asks.  And that is the reason I'm jumping through the various hoops to get my license so that I can teach even more.

Also, I mustn't forget the days when I first started taking private tutoring jobs, how I was willing to tutor anyone for anything just to have students.  Now, I'm able to teach my favorite subjects and to have to turn business away.

Life is good.

Speaking of life, recall that we just moved King Reese the snake to a much bigger tank after he'd outgrown his 20-gallon long tank.  That left us with a lonely 20-gallon long tank.  Meego has been project manager on renovations to transform it into a lush vivarium.

It's nearly ready for plants and critters now.  Plus, it's a nice project for him, with some help from Magnum and me, as the three of us adjust to being just the three of us.

Also, after a week of true bicycle commuting to school, I can give a highly favorable review of the new bicycle tires.

When I went to the bike shop to replace the old tires, I had no idea there were so MANY varieties.  A technician brought out a fat fat catalogue, and we stuck our noses in it to find just the right thing for Tessa and me and our commute.

Their greenness aside, after a week of putting them to work, these tires are noticeably a perfect choice.

They grab the curves, are smooth and fast on the straights, and can deal with a fair amount of road debris.  They were actually designed with bicycle messengers in mind.  Cool!

So, a shout out to the Kenda  tire company, and also to Bike Tech Byron, who I don't think got any commission for helping me pick them out.  The green was (mainly) his idea.

As always, I'm grateful for blog friends and readers who continue to keep me entertained, inspired, and connected.  I hope everyone has a fun Labor Day Weekend!  Holiday for the working man! (and woman).  Plumber Butts all around!

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