Steven Helmer Publications

Just a couple photos from my morning walk this morning:

My daughter started up again last night (a week later than planned due to some ice issues). And, from what I can tell, had no rust despite having a month off. In total, we were there about two hours last night, giving me plenty of time to read. I think I made more progress in my book in one night than I did in the week leading up to it. The start up of ice season did mean having to plan dinner accordingly. Good thing we have two crock pots. I ended up making pork ribs and potatoes and they were ready to be eaten by the time I got home from work, giving us both a chance to eat before we were at the rink.

I wasn't overly anxious to head into the office this morning, mostly because we still have the loud fans and dehumidifiers running from last week's flood. So, I stopped at the lake first and walked the shoreline in search of aluminum cans. I had my camera with me and used it to get some photos of the ducks that were hanging around.

The zucchini wasn't quite as large as it normally is when I pick it. But, it was about the same size as what I can buy at the store so I picked some yesterday afternoon. I also picked some of my yellow squash and a couple onions. Since it stopped raining, I decided to chop everything up, combine it with the leftover chicken that was in the fridge and put it on the grill with some butter. This turned out really well and I have some leftovers for lunch today. I must admit, I sure did miss having some fresh vegetables. I can't wait until everything else is ready to be picked.

Long story short, the building landlord was soaking a vent cover in the utility room sink and thought he turned the faucet off before going to lunch. As it turns out, the faucet, for some weird reason, turns differently than most faucets and, instead of being off, it was opened wide. There was a hose attached and, since the other end was emerged in the water, he didn't notice the water wasn't turned off. As a result of all of this, I got up from my desk to use the rest room about 11:30 yesterday and noticed water seeping into the office. Upon further investigation, I discovered the entire basement of the office building was flooded. By the time we figured out what was going on and got the water turned off, I had a good half inch of water standing by my desk and water had gotten into every room. Surprisingly, despite being right next door to the utility room, this office wasn't the one that got hit the worst. The office on the other side of us happens to be on the bottom...

I used to do that before coming into the office in the morning. However, I wound up taking a long break from it. That changed this weekend, when I took in the aluminum cans I had in bags outside my house and discovered they are worth 50-cents per pound again. I had 130 pounds (a lot of them were ones I found on my walks) and the $65 will allow me to do something with the family this summer. Granted, it's not a life-changing amount. But, if I can get $10 worth here and another $10 worth there, it does add up after a while, especially if I'm putting it aside for family nights out.

We did manage to have a couple decent, sunny days this weekend but, once again, the clouds are out and we're getting rain. Normally, I wouldn't care too much because I need the rain to make my garden grow. But, my plants also need some sun. In fact, I could use a little myself. I might have to start taking Vitamin D pills again at this rate.