Takin' the Blog for a Walk

While many folks were elbowing their way through Black Friday crowds, I went downtown Waukesha for a little peace and quiet. We don't have stores here that sell big screen TVs or the latest toy must-have, so it's no surprise that lines didn't start forming in the Thursday night cold. No surprise that most, if not all, downtown Waukesha stores opened at their regular hours instead of 5:00 a.m.. 

The first place I visited could have used, no, needed more people. I was only the second person visiting in the hour and a half since they had opened at 7:00. The blood drive had been advertised for months, many stores had the notice in their windows. The notice was in the papers, WaukeshaNOW and on a thousand fliers handed out at the Christmas Parade sponsored by the Blood Center of Wisconsin.

It was the first time I've donated on a bus. The bus was brought in because of the low numbers of appointments. Maybe if the bus was brought in earlier, a week earlier, the numbers wouldn't have been as low. For lack of a driver, the Blood Center bus wasn't in the Christmas Parade it sponsored. Blood drive signage on the bus in the parade may have helped the numbers.

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Sunday's weather for the Waukesha Christmas Parade was chilly but not unbearable, if you were dressed for it. A very large, appreciative crowd turned out for it and tossed candy was flowing.

The guy with the whistle who rides inside and outside that huge wheel is always a crowd-pleaser. But the entry that got the most and loudest cheers was none other than my friend, Ken Walter, with WindDancer Balloon Promotions. Ken rode in the wicker basket at the back of his chase vehicle and warmed up the air with 20 foot bursts of propane-fueled flame. The crowd went wild.

The downtown street lights aren't the best for parade watching on a late November afternoon, but with Rudolf  Ken lighting the way for Santa there's sure to be enjoyment for all the boys and girls.

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"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is 'thank you,' it will be enough." Meister Eckhart.

I thought this was an appropriate quote for the day before Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for.

I'm thankful to have a job, a family and a home. Thankful we live in a friendly, welcoming, lively and helpful community. Thankful gas prices have come down! Thankful we don't have to worry about where our next meal is coming from or the quality of the food.

I'm thankful for the dedicated and generous volunteers and donors who made the annual HOPE Thanksgiving Dinner and Auction fundraiser for Cooperating Congregations a success.

I'm thankful for my parish, St. William, and it's pastor, Rev. Leonard Barbian, who is retiring next year after 10 years at St. William and 44 years as a priest.

I'm thankful for all those who gave to our recent clothing and Caps for Kids drive. You filled up the truck! Also thankful to parishioners who so generously give to the St. Vincent food pantry regularly or whenever there is need.

Thankful for the great group of people we had last weekend for confirmation retreat at beautiful Camp Whitcomb-Mason in Hartland. And the weather wasn't too bad either.

Very thankful to have many friends who lift me up and hold me there.

feel free to add your own thanks giving 

Dolly Parton slept in our garage!

Monday, while Milwaukee was shoveling out from it's whopping 1" snowstorm, Dolly was performing at the Riverside. Sounds like she put on a pretty good show too. I wonder how many people were late because of the roads. Took me 2 hours to get home Monday.

Now why would Parton sleep in our garage, when she could stay virtually anywhere in the city?

I've mentioned before we're just a block or so from the Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee. We lease garage space to the hotel.

Dolly's three tour buses were parked in our garage while she was in town. While her band and crew had reserved 50 rooms at the beautiful new boutique hotel, Dolly slept on her custom bus. In our garage.  

This is concert season in Waukesha when we can look forward to decent, affordable music expertly performed by students of our universities and high schools. Last December I bemoaned missing the annual Christmas at Carroll, the best Christmas concert ever. I'm not going to let that happen again! The concert is Dec. 6th and 7th, so I have plenty of time to get tickets.

A little closer to home, and all free, are UWW's concerts, the first of which is tomorrow, Nov. 17th. The Hand Bell Choir and Brass Ensemble performs tomorrow at 7:30 in the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Jazz Ensemble performs in the dining area Wed. the 19th at 7:30, and Symphonic Band, Friday the 21st, in the theatre.

In December, UWW has two concerts planned: The Choral and String Concert is Dec. 5th and 7:30 and the Christmas Concert is Dec. 15th at 7:30, both in the theatre or just outside it.

feel free to comment below with concerts you'll be attending or would like advertised

Today is America Recycles Day so I visited the Waukesha County Materials Recycling Facility to see what was going on at the open house.

A year and a half ago I had my first tour of the facility and enjoyed it so much that I returned for more. Maybe it was because our small group was the last of the day - we weren't feeling rushed - but we asked so many questions that I had to ask yet one more: Has anyone asked more questions than us?  answer: YES! You get a group of 30 cubscouts and there's no end to the questions.

We were fortunate that our tour leader had all the answers. No surprise considering our leader was none other than Waukesha's champion recycler, Recycle Raccoon. He wasn't easy to recognize though, as he was disguised as a woman.

Analiese told us they see more newspapers in plastic when it's raining, but they'd prefer the paper to be wet than with those machine-clogging bags. They also get a lot of TV remotes in with the papers. I wonder why?

We talked at length about acceptable plastics #1 and #2 because it took a while to sink in. Or maybe because the average consumer doesn't know the difference between blow molded and injection molded plastic. So we're told all bottles #1 and #2 are OK. Only bottles. What about jugs or plastic coffee cans? It's a gray area that doesn't really have to be perfect because they can have some mixed in. Plus, that's why there are sorters. Blow molded is recyclable, injection molded is not.

After being reassured that the blue plastic recycling bins being handing out were recycled and recyclable, I helped myself to one. When I'm ready to give up on my old, broken bin all I have to do is put it out with other recyclables and they'll collect it for recycling.

Speaking of recycling: Next weekend, Nov. 22nd and 23rd, St. Vincent de Paul will be collecting used clothing and other fabric at St. William, 440 N. Moreland, for a "Bundle Sunday." This is a perfect opportunity to get rid of clothes, sheets, etc., that are no longer useable. Anything not resellable in the thrift store will be bundled and sold to fabric recyclers to support the good that St. Vincent does. 

The Navy's first Littoral Combat Ship, Freedom (LCS-1), was commissioned in Milwaukee today following the Veteran's Day Parade. Built in Marinette Wisconsin, it is the first ship commissioned in Milw. and the Navy's fastest ship.

Littoral ships are designed to defend coastal waters and rivers from mines, submarines and surface attacks. They have turbines instead of propellers and have a relatively shallow draft. The Freedom is unique in that it can be quickly outfitted with different modules, depending on the mission, making it efficiently flexible for multiple tasks.

The Freedom's unique features didn't come without great cost however. Much controversy surrounded the project as costs doubled, halting production on the remaining vessels. The final figure on this one is in the neighborhood of 600 million dollars.

It wasn't a total breakdown of Freedom, but my company had the opportunity to work on Freedom this week. They contacted us because of our experience with transport refrigeration. Their cold plate freezer was acting up so we showed up to replace the Copeland compressor. Our guys told us they had to pass a background check and a search to work on the ship. When they forgot to bring the dehydrator with them, I thought they'd never be let back on with the grenade-looking device.

All in all it was fun to see and read about such a unique ship in Milwaukee.

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Years from now when my grandkids are regularly electing women or minority presidents, and the occasional minority woman president, I'll remind them that I voted in this historic election.  

Does it make me feel old when my son votes for the first time or when I can help elect a president younger than myself? Not when I can still work 19 hours straight. From 6:00 a.m. yesterday to 1:00 a.m. today I helped make sure every vote in Waukesha was counted as a poll worker for the 4th Aldermanic District at Hawthorne Elementary.

As the main person working new registrations, name and address changes, I was better able to see first hand the desire to make a difference. The first time voters and those who couldn't tell you the last time they voted. The blind and the frail who knew what their one vote could mean. Those unwilling to give up even after being directed to the wrong polling place - several times.

 Like Honest Abe, the last president to come from Illinois who did so much 140 years ago to make Obama's win possible today, a single write-in vote for "an honest man" said it all. While many write-ins are ridiculous and just slow down the poll workers, I felt at least the "an honest man" vote was probably cast with some good thought and feeling.  

Could go on about how I didn't find out myself who won until 1:00 a.m. this morning, even though I was at the polls. Could talk about how easy it was to get our many questions answered by Waukesha's newest City Clerk, Gina. Would mention how surprised I was to not see long lines except in the morning. I'd write more but it's late and I've had only 4 hours sleep in the last two days. 

Thanks for voting. It was good to see.

One week ago I commented here that I'd love to take our rented Chevy HHR on a trip before turning it in. The Toyota was done Friday but we haven't picked it up yet. Son and I left with the HHR for Glendale Heights, IL, early Saturday for an open house at UTI, Universal Technical Institute, his probable school after graduation.

The 110 mile trip wasn't too bad. We didn't have an Illinois map and I didn't know where we were going, which made me nervous, but son had a borrowed GPS and hopefully knew how to use it. (We missed just one turn.)

Gas in Illinois was anywhere from 20 to 70 cents more per gallon than in Wisconsin, even though they also charge tolls.

You can find cigarettes in IL $9.40 a carton tax included, cheaper than in WI.

We looked at apartments while there and noted rents are probably $100.00 to $200.00 a month higher than you'd find in Waukesha for the equivalent.

We measured time and mileage between here and the Racine shop I'll be driving to next year. Thirty-five miles and forty-five minutes either via Hwy. 164 or I-94, on dry pavement, during daylight, and not during rush hour. (I'm currently driving 3 miles to catch a bus to Downtown Milw.)

We'll be turning in the rental soon but at least got in the trip I was hoping to take. Glad we didn't have to take the Toyota down.