Anderson/Hatgidakis/Nelson/Metcalf: Newsletter

Old news: July 2003

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Lindsey
7/31/03
Happy Anniversary Brent and Karen!

Amanda, I have no idea why is it tipping and by the way I meant Amanda not Gary. :)


Donna
7/31/03
Amanda, "the gross underbelly of the USPS" cracks me up. You should be a writer.

We have a great thunderstorm going on right now. I just heard that it's even hailing at 48th and Hwy 2. I hope we lose power here and have to go home. ;-)


Grandma
7/31/03
Happy Anniversary, Brent and Karen!!


Donna
7/31/03
Happy Anniversary, Karen and Brent!!!


The Hatgidakis Family
7/30/03
Happy Anniversary, Brent & Karen!!!


Amanda
7/30/03
Nah, Im not crabby, just want to gripe about the government, what's new these days. I have seen the gross underbelly of the USPS since we have lived here. For some reason it is second rate here, compared to Omaha/Lincoln. I never had a problem there, just the luck of the draw. And the pool is junk, no excuse there! :)


Grandma
7/30/03
Amanda, are you having a bad day? Cheer up, things are bound to get better! It is cooler here for a few days, anyway, and I thought it would never happen, who knows we may even get some rain some day! One of those the "check is in the mail" deals, maybe tomorrow. It's hard to be patient, when it's hot.


Amanda
7/30/03
Linz, of course our pool is tipping. It's junk. And we have redone it 3 times, and I just got my most recent water bill and made the command decision we are not redoing it again. I would like to unleash on the company for selling me a junk product. Why is yours tipping? I thought it was on very level ground. Cement isn't it?


Amanda
7/30/03
I hate the Postal Service, I hate the Postal Service, I hate the Postal Service! It has moved beyond the $ aspect of it all, now onto the principle. I am caring less and less about the $800 that was mailed out 6 days ago a mere 150 miles away from my home and more about the fact that the Post office is dumb. How hard is it to do your job? I called my local office here in Iowa Park, and without telling him what I was waiting for and how long I had been waiting for it I asked how long it would take for something mailed on Friday from Austin to get here and he said 2 days. Then I told him the lowdown, then he tried to recover and make excuses. I wanted to say, no, you people just can't do your job. I hate mail, if I could e-mail and do things via the internet and UPS when necessary I would.


Lindsey
7/30/03
Hey Gary I think we are going to try Netflix possibly. Is your pool still tipping because ours is kind of in one spot but it's not bad.

????? I don't have a pool... :-) --Gary


Lindsey
7/30/03
Happy Birthday, Sean!!!!!!!!!


Gary
7/30/03
OK, I promise I will shut up about Netflix, but there's one more cool thing about it I forgot to mention: And that is, after you send back a movie Netflix sends you an email asking you to rate it (1-5 stars). Then, based on the ratings you've given certain films and on your rental habits in general, every time you go to the Netflix site they will recommend several movies to you -- movies that you might have missed but would probably enjoy. (Or, you can also just ask to be shown a list of random movies on their website; you rate them all, and they build your profile right away from that -- which is actually fun!) Sort of like what Amazon.com does, if you've ever bought any books through them. So far for me, their recommendations have been right on! They've recommended several movies to me that I had never heard of before, and they've all been good.


Gary
7/30/03
The trailer for the final film in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy has just been released! It's a Quicktime movie, about 10 Mb, so if you have a slow connection the download could take a while. But it's cool! Check it out here.

Later: The above link has been removed. Apparently the studio didn't want the trailer to be on the internet yet. --Gary


Amanda
7/30/03
I have a question about the Netflix Gary. What about brand new releases that come out on a Tuesday? Is it possible to be watching them that weekend? And do you have to commit for like a year or anything?

Commitment? No. You can cancel any time by just going to their webpage and clicking the right buttons. As to new releases, I would think so but I haven't actually tried that. (There haven't been any new releases I've wanted to see since I joined!)

If you juggled things right, I'm sure you could have a new release right away. You would have to (1) put it on your "queue," or list of movies, before its release date, (2) arrange your queue so it's your #1 choice so it gets highest priority, and (3) time it so you don't currently have three movies in your possession when the new release comes out.

Sounds complicated, I guess, but it's not really. For example, I already have "Seabiscuit" on my queue! It is nowhere near DVD, having just hit the theaters last week. But the minute it does come out, they'll ship it to me as soon as I return one of my previous movies. If I time it right, I could return one movie to coincide with the new release date so that would be the next one they ship. Netflix has shipping centers all over the country, so if my nearest one doesn't have the movie, it will be automatically shipped from another that does.

You're right, this is the one drawback of Netflix, and I pointed it out in my long note below -- that if you want a particular movie tonight you won't get it from Netflix. But in that case, hey, stop by Blockbuster! And if they even own it (maybe) and if no one else has rented it (maybe), you're in luck! :-) --Gary


Ryan, Amanda, Tristen, & Teghan
7/30/03
Happy Birthday Sean!

Have a Prarie Fire and think of us! See you in a week!


The Hatgidakis Family
7/29/03
Happy Birthday, Sean!!!


Amanda
7/29/03
Pony Express apparently fired some deliverers, we still don't have our rebate check. You would think Bush would have made sure his Texans had them quickly to help pump up his economy woes.


Donna
7/29/03
Hey Amanda, that is really cool. I started out in the sampling department. I'd like to read that book. Gallup sounded like an interesting guy. I think he was friends with Einstein back in the day.


Amanda
7/29/03
Hey Donna, in my Contemporary Math class we started our last unit (I only have 5 more classes, then the final) and it is on statistics. We learned all about populations, samples, surveys, censuses, random simplified sampling, etc. In my book was a story about George Gallup. Lots of Gallup references. Thought you would like to know.


Donna
7/29/03
Happy Birthday, Sean!!!


Lindsey
7/29/03
Hey everybody! I finished the Harry Potter book, finally. 870 pages in 38 chapters. I handed the book off to Grandma to read and she'll get started with it soon I bet. A lot of changes in this book though I had trouble remembering a lot of stuff happening in it that they mentioned about the previous books. Good one to read though if you have time.


Grandma
7/29/03
Happy Birthday, Sean!!!


Brent, Karen, Emily and Erika
7/29/03
Happy Birthday Sean!!!!!


Amanda
7/28/03
Things run slower here with the ol' Pony Express. Stupid Texas.


Karen
7/28/03
The $800.00 check was in the mail today!


Amanda
7/28/03
Hey Karen did you get your kid check yet? We haven't ours yet, seems to be taking longer than I expected. We are itching to spend spend spend the "free" money.


Karen
7/28/03
Amanda -- thanks for the letter and picture of Teghan -- she is so cute!!!


Lindsey
7/28/03
Hey everybody! I can't believe summer is almost over. I start school the 25th of August. Gotta start getting ready.....


Gary
7/28/03
OK, crossword puzzle fans: There are now three links to different crossword puzzles on the links page. On any given day, at least one of them should work! :-)


Donna
7/28/03
There are 500 of us that will now work in Omaha (about 100 or so are staying in Lincoln--mostly interviewers). Of the 500, 250 have moved or will move soon. Of the remaining 250, 120 of us are taking the bus. There are 3 buses--one leaves at 6:30 AM (mine), one at 7:00 and one at 7:30. They will be back at 4:30, 5 and 5:30 to take us home. If we need to leave early, we can rent a car at the airport which is close by, but it will be at our expense. My biggest worry is if I get sick at work and need to leave early. That will be bad. But on any day that I don't feel well or for whatever reason can't make it in, I'll just work from home. We don't get paid for travel time, but there may be some work that I can do on the bus. So it will be a 12 hour day (half hour drive time to the bus stop each way and one hour from there to Omaha) but only 9 working hours. I'll work half days on Friday's from home. I really wish they were staying in Lincoln, but they have been very nice about helping us make the change. Last Friday there was a good-bye to Lincoln party. They made a video of people talking about their memories (and gave us a book of more memories that people shared) and then they had all of the Omaha TV and radio hosts welcoming us to Omaha. It was really good. They are selling the videos for $10 and proceeds go to charity.


Amanda
7/28/03
Donna~ How many of you guys are commuting? How many moved to Omaha, and are they there yet? How interesting, though it sounds a little like a field trip, did you get a new lunchbox for the occasion? :) Is the 2 hour drive time included into your workday, or will you technically be putting in say 10 hours? And do the buses leave at one time in the AM and one time in the PM or are they constantly running? What if there is an emergency in Lincoln in the middle of the day for an employee? Sorry about all the questions, but I'm like the reporter, I want to know more! :)


Donna
7/28/03
Amanda, we have to pay for the other half--which comes to $84 after taxes per month. I don't like having to pay, but it's cheaper than driving my car. We took a vote on getting a luxury bus or just a standard no frills bus--for about $20 cheaper and the luxury bus won. I agree there won't be any DVD's watched. They asked us if we wanted a karaoke machine and if we wanted to celebrate birthdays and other reasons to party. We all said, "No thanks!"

Snitily Carr (an advertising firm) is already occupying first, second and third floor of the building I'm in. Southeast Community College will take some or all of the middle building once we leave. Not sure about the rest of it. I think St. E Hospital is taking the Child Development Center.


Amanda
7/26/03
We got the letter yesterday too, so we are hoping to get the $800 Monday. We are going to use ours outside, landscaping stuff. So nice to spend it on the kids, right? :)


Karen
7/26/03
We got our kid rebate letter yesterday. So it is on the way. We have already spent it. Bought a couch on Thursday. Friday we had a tree taken down and another one trimmed. So nice to get the extra $$.

No fair. Non-kid-owner discrimination!! :-) --Gary


Gary
7/25/03
Well, I did it! After one more unfair late charge, and one more movie I wanted but they didn't have, I declared my independence from Blockbuster. As of now, all my movie requirements are being met by Netflix! Ahhhh, much better! How does it work? First you go to their website and sign up. Then you choose the movies you want. (Netflix has a selection of around 15,000 films, as opposed to the measly 2-3000 [if that!] Blockbuster may have on the shelves.) Netflix will then mail you the first three films on your list (all on DVD, BTW). Each DVD comes with its own pre-paid mailer so you can send it back when you're done. How long can you keep it? As long as you want -- and no late fees! As soon as you send a DVD back to Netflix, they immediately send you the next one on your list, which means you can have up to three DVDs in your possession at any one time. (You can make this list as long as you want, and edit and re-arrange it whenever you want, online.) What does it cost? $19.95 a month, which means for the price of 4 Blockbuster movies, which I have to return by their deadline, Netflix will supply me with as many movies as I can watch and mail back in a month. The mailing part works really well -- Netflix has mailing centers all over the country, and even in foreign countries like Texas. My nearest mailing center is Minneapolis, so the turn-around is only a couple of days. (The first ones I got, though, took 5-6 days from the time I ordered, I assume for processing, etc.) You only get a glimpse of their collection on the website; to have access to all their titles, you must sign up. They do have a 10-day free trial period, which basically allows you your first three movies for free. Downside? If you want a certain movie tonight, too bad; you'll have to wait a couple of days and watch the mailbox. Upside? All of the above, plus never having to hustle back to the Blockbuster return-slot again!

Another added benefit is that I'm not supporting Blockbuster's practice of censorship any more. Like Wal-Mart, Blockbuster refuses to stock movies they don't approve of. (The owners of both companies are strongly "fundamentalist," or Religious Right.) For some titles, Blockbuster will insist that the studios provide them with an edited version; so the movie you rent may or may not be the version you saw in the theater. And for still other movies, Blockbuster has suggested changes before the movie was even released, with the implied threat being they wouldn't put it on their shelves unless changes were made. These stories are all over the net, but here and here are a couple of them.

The preceding was an unsolicited testimonial. I am neither a stockholder nor employee of Netflix. And sorry this was so long! :-)


Amanda
7/24/03
Paying for half the cost? So you have to pay for the other half? How much does that work out to? And would it be cheaper if there were no DVD's and such? Cuz you arent going to get any DVD's watched in the hour drive there. Pretty cool though. Keep us posted! What are they doing with the buildings in Lincoln?


Donna
7/24/03
There have been a lot of changes going on at Gallup and I thought I'd fill you all in. I only have 9 days left working in Lincoln. I'll start commuting August 11th. Gallup is providing 3 buses and paying for half the cost. The buses will have a big screen TV, Starbuck's coffee (yaaay) and pastries in the AM and beverages for the drive home. Leather seats, DVD, VCR, radio and CD players, magazines and newspapers. There will be reporters from 2 TV stations reporting on our first day on the bus and there will be a reporter from the Lincoln paper that will ride the bus for a week. He said he wanted to know what kind of company Gallup was since there are so many willing to commute rather than get another job in Lincoln.


Donna
7/24/03
Ryan that picture of you and Tristen cracks me up. That would fall under the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy in the Air Force, wouldn't it?


Lindsey
7/23/03
Actually I was mistaken, it was not an air raid, it was a gun fight just fyi.


Amanda
7/23/03
So, is everyone but Bush taking the blame for the CIA memo nonsense? Seems as though anyone is a "fall" guy right now.

That's one of the perks of being president: When good stuff happens, it was you; when bad stuff happens, it was someone else. --Gary


Lindsey
7/22/03
Hey everybody I was just reading around the news on the internet and found out that Odai and Qusai Hussein were killed in an air raid. Kind of an interesting article. I studied this a lot in my Social Studies class last year and just saw this and caught my attention. Here's the article if you want to look at it.


Karen
7/22/03
I'm OK with only having only the recent pictures.....

OK, the people have spoken! Next time I have a slow day I'll phase out those outdated family photo pages. But hey, Amanda and Ryan (and everyone else!), don't think you're bogging down the site! I didn't mean to make it sound like we're that tight for room -- we'll always have room for pictures. So send 'em in whenever you have 'em. Except for my movie reviews, they're the best thing on the site! :-) --Gary


Lindsey
7/22/03
I just really look at the recent photos page anyway...


Ryan, Amanda, Tristen, and Teghan
7/22/03
We vote for just recent photos because wouldn't it give more room on the website? Especially because we bog the website down with all our photos. And we agree with Linz most of the photos were outdated anyway. Yah, for the recent photos vote.


Lindsey
7/22/03
I was just checking out the photos on the webpage again and just wanted to tell you that most of them weren't working except recent, fakes and pets. Also I will try to send some more up to date pictures soon or whatever.

Lindsey emailed this directly to me, but I hope you won't mind, Linz, if I put it here on the Newsletter page so I can include everybody in my reply. Yeah, remember a few months ago when I mentioned I accidentally erased the entire website? :-) Smart, huh? I did and do have back-ups of everything so it wasn't too hard to get stuff back on the website. But when it came to restoring the pictures I kind of dragged my feet, thinking I would like to update and re-design the whole picture area. And I'm still dragging my feet, I guess. I'm actually thinking of maybe not having a picture area at all--just do a recent photos page and that's it. What would you all think of that? windstream only allows me a certain amount of space for our website, and because pictures take up a lot of space, sometimes I have to do some fancy juggling to fit everything in. (FYI, I do keep copies of every picture that has ever appeared on the website, so when I take them off that doesn't mean they're gone forever.) So would anybody mind if I got rid of the photo sections? Or do you have some other suggestion??? --Gary


Karen
7/22/03
Finally some cooler weather!! High of 75 today and no humidity. Feels like fall :)

Same here. Bee-yoo-tiful day! --Gary


Lindsey
7/22/03
Hey I just noticed that too. On the webpage it looks like good vs. evil. Or the good twin and the bad one.

That was the idea! :-) --Gary

Nice pictures, Ryan! But I think I would slow down on the piercings! :)


Ryan
7/21/03
Man am I computer stupid!!! I just sent Gary a clip that was just my name. Anyway whats up with the front page? Teghan looks like good v. evil. :) Hey I'm putting another picture of what happens to all the jewelry that everyone has given Tristen. Lets just say the queens go out to party!!!!!


Amanda
7/21/03
"Goin to the chapel..."


Lindsey
7/21/03
Yeah we were going to that Samuri Sams in the grocery-go-getter and by the way that is a really good restraunt! I had to have hibachi steak! Really good and don't even try to take Teghan's sherbet! Oh and we got to see the picture of Amanda with the red shirt and yellow hat on at the restraunt!


Amanda
7/21/03
Lindsey, may I? While in Texas driving the rented van I had a little trouble manuevering, shall we say, like I would in my car. After I missed a turn while leading a 3 car convoy (us all in the van, dad & Lori behind us in my car, and Ryan bringing up the rear in his truck) I made the comment that I was sorry I drove us all over town but I couldn't speed up in that "grocery-go-getter" I had been driving all week and that I was ready for my car back. So grocery-go-getter=MINIVAN!

Ah! Thanks. --Gary


Emily
7/21/03
Gary - I was driving. I drove in a parking lot, and some streets too but, just ones that weren't too busy.

Way to go! If you need help picking out your first car, try here!
And Lindsey, what's a "grocery-go-getter"??? --Gary


Lindsey
7/20/03
Oh my gosh I love those pictures!!!!!!!!!!! Today we did a lot of stuff. In the morning me and my Dad went to the driving range and hit balls and then at 3:30 we went to Pirates of the Caribbean and then after that we went bowling and then went out to eat at a Chinese restraunt. Oh and then we went grocery shopping but hey Amanda we didn't have our grocery-go-getter! :) We had a pretty fun day!


Emily
7/20/03
Hey everybody! Those pictures of Teghan are cute!! I had another class at the museum yesterday, they had a person come that told Norwegian folk tales, then they made a craft that went with the stories, and learned a Norwegian dance. And today I went driving, but thats about it, pretty boring.

You mean someone else was driving or you were driving? In a parking lot, or are you ready for the streets yet?? --Gary


Lindsey
7/20/03
I miss those pictures of the snow!

Maybe this will help!
And speaking of pictures, check out these pixs of Gangsta T! :-) --Gary


Ryan
7/18/03
Alright enough is enough! I cant even make it back from work without the back of my pants or my back getting so sweaty. I know that sounds gross but the truth hurts. When does fall start again? Im supposed to go out and do some yard work tomorrow. Wonder if Tristen could mow the lawn? :)


Lindsey
7/18/03
Hey Amanda those are good pictures. Tristen you look like your going to run the plane into a mountain! Well not much news here today. Me and Olivia went swimming in our pool today and I just got out of the shower. Haven't been doing a whole lot this week really. Too hot to go out and do anything. I hate this weather!!!!!


Gary
7/18/03
New (sort of) photos!


Donna
7/18/03
I actually got a shiver looking at those pictures today.
Hey Ryan, you go, girl!


Amanda
7/18/03
The bottom picture on today's front page is very nice. I wish that was me. I wouldn't leave the house for days!

You couldn't if you wanted to! :-) --Gary


Ryan
7/17/03
Holy Cow Gary!!!!! That is awesome. I dont follow politics that much but man that makes me proud to be on your side. Its like me saying "You Go Girl!!" But you're not a girl so oh well you get my point. You're right about the snowblowing thing. What I would give to be somewhere cold. I would rather be too cold then be too hot. You can always add more clothes when you're cold but when you're hot you have to stay decent in public right? By the way I'm saying Hi to everyone because im barely ever on here.


Gary
7/17/03
hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot Hot Hot Hot HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!!!!! I hate summer!

WARNING: If you are politically squeamish, you may want to skip the next paragraph.

Got an interesting call last night, from some staff person in Sen. Chuck Hagel's (R-NE) office in Washington. He identified himself and said, "You wrote the Senator asking him where is Osama, where is Saddam, and where are the WMDs?" I had written such a letter, not only to Hagel, but to many other government officials; but I made a small correction: "I wasn't asking this of Hagel -- I was suggesting these are the questions HE ought to be asking BUSH!" The guy started in, well, you know, bla bla bla, and I interrupted: "I would be glad to talk with you about this [actually he was interrupting my viewing of "History Detectives"!], but I can save you some time if I say up front there is NO WAY I will EVER vote for Hagel, or Bush, or any other Republican." He said, "No, I'm not calling to get your vote -- I'm just calling to explain the Senator's position. If you would read some of his position papers, you would see that he has been critical of the President on several occasions...." I said, "I'm sure that would be the fair thing to do, but I don't care: In politics, I am not fair-minded any more. When you guys showed your contempt for America by sabotaging the electoral process, I vowed I would never again vote for any Republican, any where, any time. You guys actually made my life a lot simpler: I used to study the issues and examine all the candidates, but now all I need to do is look for an 'R' or a 'D' beside their names." He urged me again to check Hagel's position papers, but I told him it's a waste of time: "To the degree that he has made a compact with Bush, and to the degree he has allied himself with the Republican Party, that is the degree to which I will not support him." The guy bristled a bit at the word "compact," and told me again it might surprise me to learn how often Hagel has disagreed with Bush. I said again, "I don't care. As long as he's got an 'R' beside his name, he is not an American -- he's a Republican." I told the guy I appreciated that they followed up to my letter in such a personal way, and he said well, he is your representative and he wants you to know where he stands. I laughed, "Oh, he's not my representative! Do you think he's representing my position in Washington? My position is that if Jesus comes back and runs as a Republican, I'm going to vote for the other guy!" After a pause, the staffer said, "Well....goodbye." Woo-hoo, that felt good! :-)


Amanda
7/17/03
I don't know Donna, I think Ryan seeing the snowblowing picture would make him think nice snow thoughts. He would LOVE to be doing that right now.


Donna
7/17/03
Amanda, what are you learning in math? Wasn't this the class that had new stuff--from the last 200 years?
Congrats on the A.
Today's pictures of snow aren't nearly as nice to look at as the others have been. I don't mind the heat as much when I think I could be shoveling snow and warming up my car.


Amanda
7/16/03
I had my first math test Tuesday and my grade in the class is a 96%. So, I am officially a believer in the theory that the teacher matters. My first math class I had a decent enough teacher, not great, but OK and got an A. My second math class I had an AWFUL teacher and got a C, which was better than half the class, who all failed, no exaggeration. And this one, one test in, the teacher is pretty good and amazingly my math grades are back up to A's again. Now, I am not near the end yet, still have 3 weeks left of class, and two more tests, so anything can happen.


Lindsey
7/16/03
I am currently reading Harry Potter and almost halfway through it so I can't wait to finish it!


Gary
7/16/03
I was going to make this a cool site, but (being in the middle of Winter Week) I can't wait that long! Donna discovered this great program on PBS called "History Detectives" which, for the time being anyway, is on almost every night of the week. It's a 10-episode series, and all ten episodes are being played this month. (Check your local listings -- or click here! -- but here it's on every night this week through Friday, then Sun-Mon-Tues of next week, and Sun-Mon-Tues of the following week.) Imagine the "Antiques Roadshow," but instead of simply putting a dollar value on the item the experts try to figure out where it came from and what its real story is. (In fact, I learned from the website that one of the show's experts -- Wes Cowan -- used to be on "Antiques Roadshow.") Some really interesting stories! Tonight's episode investigates the link between an old whaling ship in Connecticut to the Underground Railroad (you listening, Anna??), a house in Massachussetts that may once have belonged to an accused witch, and an old jigsaw puzzle that suggests women were playing contact sports like football back in the 1800s. More episodes are in the works, because on their website you can submit ideas for future shows.


Amanda
7/16/03
I finally finished Harry Potter...


Lindsey
7/15/03
Hey we got our new MSN e-mail addresses so here they are...
Lindsey: LAdancer89@msn.com
Dad (Paul): panderson614@msn.com
Mom: landerson526@msn.com
Olivia: Livygrl901@msn.com (also it's g-r-l 901 not 1901)

Thanks, Lindsey. The contact page has been updated with this info. --Gary


Emily
7/15/03
Hey everybody! Its been pretty quiet on here, but we havent been doing anything either. I had another 'Blues Clues' class today, we had about 20 kids. They were all pretty good and no glue accidents!
Erika got her hair cut yesterday, its pretty short now, about to her chin, but it looks cute. Im thinking about getting mine cut too, but im not sure how yet.


Lindsey
7/15/03
Hey everybody! We got our computer back finally! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! But when we got it back we had to reload it and then we didn't have the internet for about a week so then Dad came home during his lunch break and called the people and got it set up and then we also got MSN back so I will you get you our e-mail addresses because the old ones don't work. Then we also got Windows XP and we L-O-V-E that. It is so much easier and nicer! I am so glad we have our computer back!!


Gary
7/14/03
If the snowy pictures have inspired anyone to start their Christmas shopping, you might want to check the "Complete Who Am I" page. I have just now updated it with the results of our latest game.


Gary
7/13/03
Attention crossword puzzle fans: I fixed the broken link, so the puzzle is available again. Or click here for the latest!


Amanda
7/12/03
Bring on the snow and blustery cold.

Check the front page (and cool sites) each day this week. Wish it was real! --Gary


Amanda
7/12/03
Lordy, it says its 105 right now (4:00 PM), and its 83 in my house, my A/C has been running nonstop for about 2 hours trying to get back down to 78, it'll happen at midnight at this rate.

For what it's worth, this webpage will be in winter mode starting tomorrow! --Gary


Amanda
7/12/03
Have mercy, its supposed to get to 102 today. It is already miserable out. Swimming day. The girls and I were out early this morning watching our neighbors pour concrete for their patio, that was neat to watch, Ryan will be mad he had to work today. Other than that it's hot hot hot, and a year ago tomorrow we came here to find this house.


Karen
7/10/03
Hi, Nice cool day here, wish it would stay for a few weeks. Erika is doing much better. Emily helped at a class at the museum yesterday and has another one tomorrow. Lindsey -- you guys need your computer fixed! That is too long to do without it. Hey Hatgidakis' what up with you guys? Haven't heard from you for awhile......


Lindsey
7/9/03
Hey everybody! Man I spent about 15 minutes reading all the newsletters I've missed. Our computer is being worked on again and they were just supposed to come and look at it and fix it at our house. Well, they had to take it AGAIN and we have been without a computer since last Monday (6-30-03) and I am going crazy without a computer and we are afraid since it is taking them so long that it's because somethings wrong and it's gonna be expensive and we're not sure if it's even fixable. The guy said it was something about "The Blue Screen Of Death".......yeah don't know what that's about but I can't check my email from here (my grandma megrue's computer) and I have no idea when we are getting it back and we haven't heard from them or anything but sure....Sorry to hear about your ear Erika, you were swimming a lot! Amanda, that sounds like a different class-spinning-never heard of it. One credit away from a junior! Good luck! OK well I'll hopefully talk to you guys soon if we ever get our computer back!


Karen
7/9/03
Amanda -- spinners butt -- too funny!


Amanda
7/9/03
Hey Erika, sorry about swimmers ear, I have spinners butt. Sitting on a bike peddling for an hour HURTS!


Gary
7/9/03
Had enough hot weather? Check this webpage next week for "A Week of Winter" -- every day guaranteed to make you c-c-c-cold. Starts Sunday. Bring a sweater!


Donna
7/9/03

Hey Erika, sorry you're still not feeling well. I'm so glad you didn't get sick here. That would have been no fun at all. Get better soon!


Erika
7/9/03
That pink one is yours Gary. I have mine. My ear isn't better yet. I have to put drops in them 4 times a day for a week.

Thanks, Erika. Get better soon! Have you beaten your high score in 'Bejewelled' yet? :-) --Gary


Gary
7/9/03
Feel better soon, Ear-Ache-a...I mean, Erika!

Did you remember to take home that bendy plastic thing we got at the Children's Museum? There is a pink one still at Grandma's. Livy also had a pink one, but I'm pretty sure she took hers home. Or not, Livy...? Let us know so we can get it to the right person!


Karen
7/8/03
Erika does have swimmers ear, so she has to put in drops for the next week!


Karen
7/8/03
I think Erika has swimmers ear too. We are going to the doctor this afternoon to find out......


Donna
7/8/03
Erika, are you feeling better? I wonder if you got swimmers ear from all the swimming you did at Paul's. Get better soon.


Donna
7/8/03
Contemporary math sounds interesting. Tell us more about it when you get into it. Spinning in a room with no air conditioning is ridiculous. It reminds me of when I was in New Orleans. It was so hot and humid and so many of the places you'd go to either had no air, or it wasn't working--hotels, restaurants, taxis. I don't understand. It must be a southern thing.
Congrats on the B.


Amanda
7/8/03
Yeah, spinning, stationary bike deal. We did our first workout today, whew, I'm wiped out, and just got out of my second shower of the day. The room we spin in isn't really air conditioned, there's an air conditioner there, but it doesn't work, so there is a big garage door opened. Yuck. Math is going OK. The Math I am taking is Contemporary Math, it's the requirement for my major. It's interesting, most of it is things most of us have never learned. The math concepts we learn in Algebra, etc. are hundreds, a thousand years old. Everything in this class is under 100 years old... Could be interesting. I just want to be done with math, and in 4 1/2 weeks I will be! :) Oh, and I just got a B out of the Poly Sci class I finished up last week. I am at 59 credits now (currently working on 5 more with math and spinning), 60 is a junior, and 124 is graduation time..


Donna
7/8/03
Amanda, spinning as in on a stationary bike or what? Math at 7 AM sounds like torture.


Karen
7/7/03
Amanda -- nothing "fun" -- we could have sparklers, snaps, snakes, and smoke balls.


Amanda
7/7/03
Karen~ I thought you said nothing was legal in Sioux City? When I said nothing was legal, I meant nothing here, no sparklers, snakes, smokeballs even. I started 2 new classes today for another 5 weeks. The 7 AM math class and a spinning class, kinesiology credits, fun.


Karen
7/7/03
Erika is still resting up from her week in Lincoln. She had a GREAT time!! Today she has an ear ache so she is mostly in bed. We didn't do many fireworks for the 4th. Just a few "legal" ones. Been painting the bathroom and the fumes are getting to me......


Gary
7/7/03
Hey Erika, we all had fun when you visited here last week. When are you coming back? :-) I'm sure it feels good to sleep in your own bed (if you can chase Emily and the cats out of there!). And I think your score of 65,000+ on Bejewelled may be a family record: I checked my high scores, and my best game is 33,000....


Amanda
7/5/03
We had a good Fourth of July, we went to Middle Lake here on the outskirts of Iowa Park and let Tristen fire off a few works, then drove to Lawton, Oklahoma, about an hour north, and went to Fort Sill where they had some country concert (yuck, but I guess the guy is pretty big, Brad Paisley??) and afterwards at about 10:15 had an AWESOME fireworks display. It was way better than anything Holmes Lake (now Oak Lake I hear) puts on. It was bittersweet though because at the end they played some Proud to be an American song along with the fireworks, and earlier they took note to the fact that Fort Sill (an Army base) sent out 5,000 soldiers to Iraq and only 1,000 had returned thus far. All in all a good fourth! Hope everyone else's was the same.


Amanda
7/4/03
I think Olivia looks a lot like Sean as a kid in the butterfly face picture, sans the butterfly!


Ryan, Amanda, Tristen & Teghan
7/4/03
Happy 4th of July Everyone!


Gary
7/3/03
Check the recent photos page for pictures from our trip to the Children's Museum. (Lots of photos on this page, so be patient with the long load time....) Have a fun 4th, everybody!


Karen
7/3/03
Happy 4th of July everyone!

We are heading to Lincoln tomorrow. It's been a long and quiet week without Erika, anxious to get her home again. Grossly hot and humid here today. We can't do any fireworks in Sioux City either. They have undercover cops at the state borders and are picking up people who have just bought their fireworks. So we aren't getting much at all this year.


Amanda
7/3/03
Ryan has been in the Air Force for 6 years today! And what a great way to celebrate, a free day off, and tomorrow of course as well. I have my poly sci final today then the weekend off, then start two new classes on Monday. A 7 AM math class, YUCK! Tristen & Teghan also have a 4 day weekend, bring it on! Not sure what we will do for the 4th yet, Pretty much all illegal here in Iowa Park, but not as bad as Wichita Falls I guess. There it is illegal even to have them within city limits, let alone light them. Some people got ticketed buying them on one edge of town and simply driving through town to get to another locale with them in their car. The base usually does a fireworks show, but are cancelling because apparently they don't have enough money (spent it all on an airshow father's day weekend). Irks me a little, send these people to a war for independence for another country, they get home, and then don't help them celebrate our own independence day? Whatev... We may drive to Lawton Oklahoma, there is an Army base there, Fort Sill, that will have a show. Other than that we will be swimming all weekend. Temps in the high 90's to low 100's and the pool is back up and in better shape than ever before!


Donna
7/1/03
Amanda, my shirt is navy, too. It just looks different in the picture. Sounds like you guys had a really bad storm. I love thunderstorms but that one sounded a little intense.


Gary
7/1/03
More recent photos -- and also a butterfly story.