"Where Are You At 62?" part 2..the basement

 November weather has come in like a lamb....any bets that it doesn't go out that way?



It was pretty much a perfect weekend weather-wise for early November.  Sunshine with afternoon highs reaching the low 60s on Saturday and into the mid 60s yesterday with southerly breezes.  A bit of rain is back today, but temperatures for the next couple of days will remain in the 60s, before cooling off for midweek and the coming weekend.

Today will be busy enough...MRSI Board meeting at Noon, and the opening of Dartball season tonight, as we travel north a few miles north to Mount Tabor to kick off the season.  How about those Bengals?  A team that many were predicting to go 0-16, came back from a 17-7 deficit at Tennessee yesterday and defeated the Titans 24-17,  to move to 6 wins and just 2 loses on the year, and a 5 game winning streak has Cincinnati sitting with the best record in the AFC....things get tougher from here however, as they host Pittsburgh next week, then after Cleveland comes to town, they play at Baltimore and Pittsburgh back to back.  The next four weeks might tell Cinderella's story.

"62" part 2___

Friday I wrote about getting back into weight training on a good scale, after several years of starts and stops, mainly due to back problems, and frankly getting old....

I've been back at it for 5 months, lifting 2 or 3 times per week to go with my daily walks in good weather around town or the Fairgrounds, and if it's lousy outside, I climb on the treadmill for 30 or more minutes.  So far the results have even surprised me.  I'm not back to where I was in my weight training days of yesteryear, but for 62, 63 in a few months, I'm doing alright.  Now the old adage is, that muscle weighs more than fat...must be true, because since I started lifting again full bore, I've gained back about 8 pounds of the 30 I lost over the previous two years...but still fit into the 36 inch waist jeans and khaki pants.  I'd like to drop the 8 or even 12 pounds, but, not by giving up the weight lifting or beer....that's just the way it is going to be.

The Basement___

I do my workouts in the ancient basement....the house, the former First Church of God Parsonage, was built during the winter of 1923, the basement, according to newspapers I found in the cracks and crevices of the dungeon like rooms.  These days in newer and even some older homes, people fix up the basement areas, and make a den like setting...not with ours, it's pretty old, with the cost, and frankly the lack of use as a den it would get, tends me to keep it as it is....spiders and their webs are down there, along with the washer, dryer, my cigars, food storage, clothes, weight center, a TV with cable access, my officiating/umpiring equipment and uniforms, along with many old antiques from Grandma's Scott, Ohio, home...yep the basement is what they were meant for...the furnace sits along side the weight bench in one room, and my old shower, installed by Patricia when we first moved in, sits in the corner under the stair well....that shower, which needs replaced soon, has seen me and the boys, when they were living here, take 99% of our bathing needs....I've used it at least twice per day over the 16+ years...I can think of no more than a handful of times I have used the main bath upstairs.

The basement was a "full" one when the house was constructed some 88 years ago....in 1945 the south end of the house saw a kitchen, dinning room, and utility room, along with extra half bath installed...instead of the full basement continued under that portion, they added a 4 foot deep crawl space adjoining the basement area.  Anyway, that basement portion is where I spend some time each day, winter, and summer...and I like the "dungeon" just the way it is.

Busy day...so I'll be back later>>>>

Photos-The basement isn't finished or like most 88 year old things, isn't pretty, but it gets used daily...weather for weight lifting, food storage, washing, drying of clothes, and my daily showers.  The Bengals, along with Buffalo and San Francisco, are the surprise teams of the first half of the NFL season. Food Storage in the age of Obammy is important...you never know when the Kenyan bastard is going to declare Marshall Law....and when not walking outside, due to inclement weather, this is the view I get from the indoor treadmill....

Bachelor Party Rewind and awaiting the Snow/Ice Fall...

A Rare Late Sunday Post.....

Usually I don't post on the weekends, but on occasion I want to get things posted and out of the way....

Hal's Bachelor Party____

After finishing up the Junior High games at St. Marys yesterday, I showered and headed south down 127, then crossed into Indiana on US 36 and steered towards the Perfect North Ski Area near the Ohio River, not far from Cincinnati.  Hal, Sam, and a half dozen or so other guys, were already there when I arrived just before 4pm.  Most had spent the day skiing, or tubing(in Sam's case)...and some were doing it for the first time in their lives.  The place was crowded and the weather for skiing was picture perfect.  Warm sun coming down, light winds, and highs in the 40 range.
  
It's been 30 years or so since I last donned the boots and grabbed the ski poles, as I had choose to let that sleeping dog lay.  I worked at a ski hill in Wisconsin back in the late 70s, and learned on the slopes of upstate New York at Snow Ridge in Turnin, along with my buddy, the late Jack Friedl, in the winter of 70-71.  I liked skiing, but at 61, and the back feeling pretty good these days, no way am I trying that anytime soon, if ever again....I'll let the younger guys go for it.

When done on the slopes, we jumped into our various vehicles, headed for I-275 and backtracked north on I-75 to Covington, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati.  There, 15 of us, gathered in our rooms at the upscale(we had great rates because one of Hal's future brothers-in-law works for the corporation) Marriott RiverCenter, located on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, right at the river front.  Once in our rooms, the skiing guys grabbed their showers...meanwhile I walked downstairs to bar areas, and see none other that West Virginia Basketball Coach Bobby Huggins walking through the lobby with his bags...I greeted him, he said he was doing great.  It ended up just that, as his Mountaineer team, staying at the same Marriott, defeated his former Cincinnati Bearcat squad later last night.

After the clean up crew was done, we gathered, grabbed 4 cabs and headed the 10 minute drive to the Riverfront "Hooters" Restaurant, where we had plenty of beer and chicken wings, watched Ohio State survive against upstart Northwestern, by a point, and I took plenty of photos.  We let the "Hooter Girls" tease Hal as well...leaving there, we again grabbed cabs and headed to Newport...where we spent the rest of the night, downing beer, shooting pool, and riding the Mechanical Bull....

We kept it pretty well together, with me, as the oldest(and dad) keeping an eye on Hal, so he wouldn't get too many spirits.  I did well until the last bar, when the boys poured a few shots into him, while I was shooting pool....but we made it back to the Marriott in one piece, once there, Sam and Matt, one of Hal's baseball and high school buddies, decided it was time for a White Castle run.  They came back with $47 worth of White Castle products...including 40 "sliders" 20 with cheese, 20 without...a dozen orders of fries, and some chicken rounds.  Talk about revolting!  This morning, I think there were still a dozen or more "items" left.... because some of the guys never made it back to the hotel last night...but by the time we headed out of Kentucky through Cincinnati this morning, a full head count was made, everybody accounted for...and I think the hangovers were minimal.

All-in-all a safe and good time...we did our share to help the local economies of the Tri-State....between $70 lift tickets, several hundred in hotel bills, over $300 at Hooters, cab fares, and gawd knows how many beers and shots at the local bars?  I say we did more for the economy than that asswipe Obama has done in his 2 miserable years in office.

The Iceman Cometh____?

Now with one of three phases of the upcoming marriage of my youngest out of the way, we can concentrate on the next 2 portions.  The wedding in West Virginia next weekend, and the reception in the Dayton area on February 19th.

But first off it appears we will have a major weather problem on our hands starting late tomorrow night, and lasting into the mid and late mid-week.  Hopefully if the predictions are correct(and we are hoping they are not), the mess that appears to be coming will be gone by the time we head east and south towards the mountains of West "by god" Virginia on Friday.

For right now however, they are calling for up to 20 inches of snow north of Celina towards the Michigan line and in Northern Indiana.  We are on the border of snow and the predicted Ice, looking like more ice at this time, which could cause power outages and much worse.  Once the ice/snow storm is finished, brutal cold and winds are expected.  As of now it appears that West Virginia may miss the worst of the storm...our problem is getting through the mess in Ohio and getting there by Friday night, with the wedding set at the lodge for 6pm Saturday.

Stay Tuned....

Top Left:  Hal, 3rd from left, with two of his future brothers-in-laws and his future father-in-law Tim.  The table at Hooters when the night was still young, Hal gets his own "hooters", Hal with Powell and Stump two old school mates from Celina.  Sam, taking his turn on the "Bull". And Stu, Hal's Celina and college buddy, who helped get this party together riding....but all good things end,   Turn out the lights, Hal's Party is just about over!

Below, more photos:

Stump Gets Tossed....











I take my one and only ride of the night... and below the Marriott RiverCenter in Covington, Kentucky