Wii Like to Box

No my brother-in-law has not gone crazy. Nor is he inventing a new exercise routine. This is what it looks like to watch someone play Wii Boxing. If you're watching the TV screen, all these movements make perfect sense. Really.

My Wife is a Closet Bracketologist

For the second straight year, Rachel is winning our NCAA pool. First off, let me say that this is the number one reason that I don't make people wager money on this pool. Second, how in the world does this happen? It's not that my wife is totally clueless about basketball (although she did think Stanford was on the East Coast and had never heard of Davidson, Dell Curry, or his son, but still had them in the Sweet 16), it's just that to win this you need a degree of luck. How lucky is she? If she wins the whole pool this year, I'm driving to Atlantic City with her and putting our life savings on Black 13.

Gretchen Winn, 1918 - 2008

My great-grandmother Winn passed away last Wednesday. Just looking at the dates I wrote above makes me realize how much she must have seen. 1918 to 2008. Quite a life.

Like most people, I assume, most of what I remember about my great-grandmother surrounds the holidays. She was a very creative woman and loved to celebrate the holidays with her family, but especially us young grandkids. For Halloween one year she hid our candy all through her house and then tied string to each one. Then she wound the string all over the house in a sort of maze we had to traverse to get our candy. We had so much fun running from room to room and getting our piece of string untangled from the others.

Another tradition was at Christmas time. She wasn't able to get out much (she stopped driving years ago) and wasn't much up on the "new toys" that we kids wanted (you know, stuff like G.I. Joe's and cassette tapes and Atari games). So she would take our Christmas gift, usually just five dollars, and disguise it in someway. One year she took one of those marble puzzles where you have to complete it to get inside. I remember seeing the five dollar bill, but not being able to get to it! The most creative one was when I got a roll of toilet paper as a Christmas gift. I was a little surprised and had to keep smiling because that's what you did when someone got you a gift and I'm sure dad had the video camera taping the whole thing. Finally I realized that she had rolled up one dollar bills in the toilet roll. I've told that story so many times and I still smile. It's always nice to get presents for Christmas (even today!), but great-grandma also made us smile with even the smallest of gifts.

I'll miss you Grandma!

Here is the notice that ran in the Brazil Times:

Gretchen Marie Winn, 89, Brazil, died at 8:35 p.m., Wednesday, March 12, 2008, at St. Vincent Clay Hospital.

Born June 13, 1918, in Clay County, she was the daughter of Daniel and Carrie Bolin Lancett.

She graduated from Brazil High School and began a long career employed at The Brazil Times newspaper where she worked as the advertising manager.

She married Richard E. Winn in 1936. He preceded her in death on Oct. 20, 2007.

She was active in the Clay County Chamber of Commerce and enjoyed crocheting, writing poetry and painting.

She was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Brazil.

She was preceded in death by her husband Richard, her parents, four sisters, Ruth Crewes, Margaret Butts, Helen Parson and Vivian Lancaster, and one son-in-law, Walter Wegner.

She is survived by one daughter, Karolyn M. Wegner, and one son, Richard E. Winn, Jr., all of Brazil, grandchildren Cindy Stiffler, Candy Clerk, Dan Wegner and wife Linda, all of Brazil, and Christy Prulhiere and husband Paul, Camby, Cathy Short and husband Shawn, Beaver Creek, Ohio, and Sally Ann Winn, Helena, Mont., great-grandchildren, Troy Stiffler, Indianapolis, Amanda Sebastian, Coal City, Trent, Tressa and Tiara Clerk, all of Brazil, Danny Wegner, Terre Haute, Amos Wegner, Brazil, Natasha Wegner and Aaron Prulhiere, both of Camby, Emily and Hannah Winn, both of Helena, Mont., and Kaylee M. Short, Ohio, and one great-grandson, Brian Sebastian, Coal City.

Moore Funeral Home was chosen to provide cremation services.

Visitation with the family will be 6-7 p.m., Monday, at Moore Funeral Home. A memorial service will be conducted at 7 p.m., Monday, with Rev. Tony Alstott officiating.

Should friends so desire, expression of sympathy may take the form of donations to First United Methodist Church, 201 N. Meridian St., Brazil, 47834.

Visit www.moore-funeral-homes.com to second condolences to the family or for more information.

Tis the Season for Gifts

My company means well. Each Christmas they give the staff a Christmas gift. Now I understand that they do this because the IRS would tax them if they gave out bonuses. I'd still rather have the money though. Human Resources has pointed out time and again how hard it is to find a gift to please everyone. However, I'm still not sure they always come up with the best ideas. So here is a review of past Christmas gifts from my company. Keep in mind all of these products are emblazoned with our company logo.

Umbrella This actually seems like a practical gift since all of us (except HR and the CEO, of course) have to walk a mile from the parking lot. I don't actually own this gift. It was given out the year before I joined the company. I saw a few of these in my first year, but they've been gone ever since. Apparently they break very easily. Good attempt, but a cheap product.

Baseball Cap This is pretty useless. We can't wear it to work and I wouldn't wear it out anywhere (except maybe to mow the lawn). It' a greyish/brownish cap with a blue bill. It also features our old logo which is pretty much unreadable at a distance. The material looks like it's been through the wash cycle 50 times. I supposed it's supposed to be "distressed," but it looks more like the company we got them from had 150 extra hats from a previous project that they needed to get rid of, so they stamped our logo on them and called it a day.

Duffle Bag I actually like this gift. It's the perfect size to fit under an airplane seat and is made out of high(er) quality material. I've actually used this several times on trips. Props to the people who chose this gift.


Blue Fleece-Lined Jacket Two years in a row with sensible gifts. Wow! I actually wear this all the time. It a short jacket lined with fleece. It's perfect for fall weather. Completely useless in the winter, but it serves it's purpose.

Folding Chair Apparently someone in HR subscribes to the "Generic Logo-Placement Gifts Catalog." It's one of those portable folding chairs with the company's logo on it. No cup holder, footstool, head covering like the fancy models. Most everyone seems to already own several of these and I have never seen this item again since it was handed out. Presumably it's in my garage somewhere and gets thrown in my trunk when we go to an event requiring us to bring our own chair, but never gets taken out because everyone already has one from their company. Also I own a Purdue chair, so why would I promote my company when I can promote my school? Yeah, I need to grow up someday.

Blanket Again, reasonably good thought, bad execution. This is one of the fleece blankets that fold up in it's own pocket. "Perfect for carrying to picnics" I believe is the slogan for this one. However, when you fold the blanket up (which is near impossible) to fit in the pocket, you find the zipper for the pocket...is on the inside. So that doesn't make much sense. I assume most people use blankets to cover up in, not go on picnics. Unfortunately I'm 6 foot tall and this blanket is about 50" long. At least I can cover my feet with it.

Black Fleeced-Lined Coat I guess they were tired of seeing everyone wear those blue fleece coats around. So this one is black, slightly longer, and has a hood. Also, only the body is lined, not the arms. This makes no sense to me. If you wear this in the fall, your chest is hot while the rest of you is comfortable; if you wear this in the winter, your chest stays warm while your arms freeze. I'm seen a few people wear these, but mostly those blue fleeced coats are the main fashion choice in jackets around here.

Fire extinguisher To be fair, this wasn't a Christmas gift. Once a quarter, a $25 gift card was given out to those who hadn't taken a sick day. The IRS began saying that those gift cards would have to be taxed, that they were like additional pay. Only physical items could be considered tax free gifts. So my company decided to give out gifts for those with perfect attendance. After thinking long and hard, they came up with...a fire extinguisher. It's one of those little models you keep under your sink. I'm not sure if the gift was to imply that our old building was a fire hazard or that they just had given up deciding what to get us and happen to be in the fire extinguisher aisle. I've never seen anyone have these at their desks. When they were being handed out, even my usually reserved co-workers were chuckling at it. What in the world were they thinking? Who wants a fire extinguisher as a gift? This has got to be the worst gift ever. Fortunately, my wife (queen of the shoppers) was able to identify the item as coming from Target. They let us exchange it for something from the same department. Now we're the proud owners of a shop vac. Much better.

Cooler on wheels I really don't get this one. It's a flimsy material lined with that grey water/cold proof cooler stuff you see on those bags at Costco to store your frozen foods on the way home. It's the kind of cooler they sell at the Colt's Pro-Shop for tailgating. This cooler is on two wheels with an airport style handle on top. Now the only time I use those suitcases on wheels are at the airport. And I KNOW you can't take pop or beverages on a plane anymore. Maybe they think we're all transporting cold beer from our cars to the office. A side note: a coworker (I assume. I'd never seen her before, but she was getting a gift so she must work here. I doubt people are coming in off the street to get a cooler on wheels.) thought it was a laptop case on wheels. Well, it is on wheels, but the flimsy construction and cooler-material interior seem to blow that out of the water. Sometimes I wonder how people get hired here.

Earth-rise, Earth-set

Two months ago Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched "KAGUYA", a project that essentially consists of three satellites. The main purpose of the project is to data on the moon and research technology for moon missions. The coolest thing about this mission (at least in the short run) are the amazing HD pictures the project has sent back. Check out these great first HD pictures of an "earth-rise" and the lunar surface. Absolutely amazing. God is an amazing artist!

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your gloryabove the heavens...When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:1, 3-4)

Rolly Polly Fish Heads

Yes, that picture to the left is the view out of our window here at work. The fish wranglers have been brought in and our providing my coworkers with window cubes plenty to be interested in. Here's the full story from the Star.

Are you prepared for zombies?

Remember a few years ago when the government gave us all instructions on how to survive terrorists attacks with duct tape? Well, they left out a contingency for one thing: zombies. Yes, that's right, zombies (or the un-dead as they like to be called.). Some individuals on the web thought that the world was not prepared for a zombie attack. So they set up a website to warn us all. I personally haven't seen any reports of zombies heading to Indianapolis, but if you feel unprepared for the coming zombies, I felt I needed to pass this information on.

Fall is (was) in the Air

I'm a little slow with the blog these days, but I've finally got pictures of our fall adventures. Let me just lump them all into one post and get them up for all the eager viewers.

Covered Bridge Festival

Rachel poses in front of the main road in Mansfield. Behind her you can see booths selling pizza, turkey legs, giant pork tenderloins, and sati-babis. Ummmm, fall festival foods.

Rachel and I pose while I try to take a self-picture like all the kids do these days.

The odd thing is that someone was selling outhouses. I suppose this is decoration for someone. Brian just thought it was a cool play house.

Beautiful fall foliage marred by some power lines. Yes, there are power lines even in Mansfield, IN.

Mandy, Brian and I browse some booths. Right after this Brian bought (read: Mandy bought) a toy motorcycle that was marked $2. The man at the booth said it was actually $4 and that it was marked wrong (along with all dozen of the others). Fortunately Brian escaped with only paying the $2, but how could you try to scam a three-year old like that?

The old Mansfield Mill. This is what they used before those power lines went in.

Mom and Mandy on our way out of Mansfield. My mom is extremely camera shy. The only way to get her in a photo is to run in front of her and hurriedly snap a picture from afar.

Pumpkin Works

Parents spend all that money on toys and all kids really want is just a big room full of corn.

There's a guy behind this pumpkin with microphone. He can move the pumpkin's mouth and talk to the kids. We saw a lot of kids get freaked out because the "pumpkin" would mention something specific (what they were wearing, how tall they were, etc.). Don't these kids know that pumpkins can talk?

Rachel's idea of heaven: surrounded by pumpkins.

Brian looks on as we walk off and leave him alone in the corn maze. (Just kidding.) Actually he probably would have been better than us adults in getting out. Andy and Rachel were using a map and it still took us an hour.

Pictures of everyone on the hay ride to the pumpkin patch. I'd say 95% of all pictures I have of my mom our in shadow, her hiding, her looking the other way, taken from a long distance away or some combination of the above.

Andy and Brian. I wonder at what age kids learn to look at the camera?

Believe it or not, this is the picture BEFORE we traipsed through the pumpkin patch.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Andy actually ended up taking this home. He had to carry it with one arm because of his shoulder surgery. He still lifted it easier than me. Maybe I need a home gym for Christmas???

It's not really fall until you've put a miniature pumpkin in a giant sling shot and fired it at silos in a field.

Hey! Not one word about my wife being a witch!

Halloween

Our front porch. Guaranteed to scare off possible trick or treaters.

Pop quiz: Guess which pumpkin is mine. One of these...

Or this one.

Rachel insists this is Achmed, the Dead Terrorist.

New Addition

Let me introduct my newest cousin. Kaylee Marie Short was born October 30, 2007 to Shawn and Cathy Short.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everyone. Rachel has had the house decorated for over a month; I'll post pictures when I have time to get them from my camera to the computer.