Hard to believe it’s been almost 20 years since Hurricane Gloria, but this Earth Science Picture of the Day proves it.

I can remember spending at least one night in the base alert facility, listening to the wind howl and playing an old Red Baron video game. Dad had flown one of the planes off to some other base, Homestead AFB I think, to avoid the storm and family of the unit were allowed to take shelter in the alert facility.

Famous last words: “It should only take 15 minutes.”

And going on hour 4, but at least it’s consulting work….

We got another .9 inches of rain last night, and we lost a tree in the front yard. Looking at the stump/trunk, it looks like there was an injury of some sort to it at a young age that weakened it pretty badly. Now I’m glad I didn’t bother trimming it earlier this year.

Updating a previous entry, Mom and Dad insulated the garage last week and I took Friday off to help hang the drywall on the walls. 12’x54″ drywall makes things go real fast when you only have to trim the bottom of the bottom sheet and make a few other cuts. It took us just over a day and a half, including several delays due to rain on Friday and the sweltering heat both days.

Now, somebody has to tape, mud, sand, tape, mud, sand, prime, paint and paint everything….

Thanks to what’s left of hurricane Dennis, Champaign is getting something like real rain. I’ve had nearly 2″ so far. And, like ck, I’m worried about what mowing my yard is going to be like once it dries out.

Reading over this weeks Carnival of Education, a few things jumped out at me:

• Ever heard of MySpace.com?
• A 10 paragraph report assignment generates a parent mailing surveys to every other parent? Maybe I’m missing something, but if there really weren’t any other smaller reports leading up to this, then I think the parent might have a valid complaint. The teacher should be giving more detailed expectations, as mentioned in the comments.
• With quotes like this, Mr. Babylon needs a book contract, NOW!
  

  It was perhaps the most awkward six minutes of my life. Everyone just sat there, crammed into the little student-desks in the bare-walled, stifling hot classroom, staring at the floor.

• Computers in the classroom are a touchy subject for me, but suggestions to teach more computer repair/troubleshooting skills to high school students that want to learn are right on the mark. Heck, that’s how I got my start, and just look at me now! (Also check out the same guys wonderful details on massive TRS payouts in perpetuity.)
• Maybe my t-shirts and jeans aren’t appropriate for working at the school district, but I’m hardly ever there during the school day.

Alisha successfully walked 26.2 miles yesterday and 13.1 miles today. One other member of the team also walked the full distance, most of the others managed 13.1 yesterday and today. She’s tired, sore and blistered, but it’s a good cause. We got back to Champaign a little after 6 pm, after leaving downtown Chicago without attending the closing ceremony. The other 2 husbands and I had some fun, but this weekend was more about the walk than anything else.

And now, some pictures.
First, compare and contrast the before and after shots:


(Many thanks to Kelly’s brother Phil for buying and bringing the bouquets.)

And the proof is in the blisters, not real clear, but they are there.

The rest of the pictures are here, Alisha is probably most proud of the timestamps on the first two, proving she was wide awake and moving at 5:07 am.

Alisha is off on her walk, getting an early start on the east side of Soldier Field at 7:00 am. She had to be on the shuttle bus by 5:30 am, so this was an EARLY morning.
The opening ceremony was a very large sea of pink, organizers said 2400 participants are walking but it looked much larger due to all the friends, family and volunteers milling about.

Alisha has the camera, so no pictures just yet. A couple of other husbands and I are going to try to find one of the cheering stations here in another half hour or so. Hopefully the rain will hold off until tomorrow night, but the radar doesn’t look all that promising.

This poll proves it, beyond a shadow of a doubt.