Family

June 10th 1925

Keith — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:13:34 GMT

Happy birthday Dad. I miss you terribly.

The Lawn, before and after

Keith — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:19:03 GMT

I mentioned in a previous post about my "magic fertilizer" and what a great job it did on my lawn. Well, here's a before and after set that shows what it looked like last year when no one lived here and what it looks like today. The before picture is from a Google Maps Street View image.

Before...

And After...

Can you say "magic fertilizer"?

Cold front! Movin' through people!

Keith — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:59:02 GMT

A couple of weeks ago "The Kode Man" and I were out front checkin' out the lawn, watchin' the sprinklers (I know, shut up), and having a beer after a long day of working in the yard. Sitting in the front yard by the way, is now Kody's absolute favorite thing to do. He actually comes to me and begs to go out and sit in the driveway! Strange.

Anyway, it was a pretty decent day but we were due to have some storms because of a cold front that was coming through the area. I snapped these pictures as it came through.

It's getting windy!

Kody's new favorite thing to do

You should have seen the yard last year when no one lived here! My "magic fertilizer" really did its thing.

Here it comes. This is supposed to show how windy it was but you can barely see the wind in the trees.

Kody's gettin' nervous! He hates storms.

Cool rainbow pics!

"As you were people. Nothin' to see here. Move along now." All clear.

Belle Tire - The First Week

Keith — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:40:08 GMT

Well my first week at Belle Tire is over. I have to say that I really think I'm going to like it there (fingers crossed!). It's pretty laid back and I can pretty much make my own hours. So far, I've been going in early so I can leave early. I was home by 5:00 every day last week and that was sweet!

Another thing that we don't do there that I'm really happy about is keep track of our time. I know that sounds like a trivial item but at my last employer we had to track EVERY 15 MINUTES of time we worked and it was really horrible. At least for me it was being the OCD freak that I am.

My first assignment was to create a report detailing an estimate for work to be done. Not too bad even thought it took me pretty much all week to get it done. That said, I had a pretty big learning curve with the database (Informix - which I've never used) and Crystal Reports (again, I've never used). But, I got it done and even added a nice little feature that allows the customer service rep to email it right to the customer. All in all, a productive week.

Busy, busy, busy

Keith — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:47:27 GMT

It's been a crazy week/month/year! Besides buying a new house and trying to get it the way we like it, I've been job hunting, found a new job, will start my new job next Monday, been working on a web site for my daughter's company, and starting to work on a web site for my daughter's volleyball team. Oh and, not to mention working every damn day! Whew.

Speaking of my new job, I'll be working for Belle Tire at the corporate headquarters as a developer in the IT department. I'm really looking forward to the change. It's been needed for a while now.

If you're from the Detroit area, Belle Tire should be very familiar to you and I'm sure you're saying "Belle Tire!" in your head like the little tire logo says way too often! :)

Belle Tire!

Thinking about Mom and Dad

Keith — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 03:56:18 GMT

I’ve been thinking A LOT about my mom and dad lately. My mom died in 1993 and my dad in 1997. Cancer. Both of them.

I wish they were here to see what a wonderful young woman Jamie has become. They would be so proud. I wish they were here to see Kari graduate from college. They would be so proud. I wish they were here to see our new house. They would’ve liked it.

Before we moved in, I would be here (our new house) late at night painting by myself. I kept thinking that I would look up and see them standing there. You know, like one of those scenes you see in a movie or TV show. Like I would have this one quick time where I could see and talk to them again. It was weird. I like to think that they were somehow here with me and that’s why I was thinking that. I have really been missing them lately, especially my dad. Since Gayla’s dad died, it’s been just me and all these, no offense, WOMEN! Don't tell anyone but, I think they're trying to kill me. Just kidding. No I'm not.

January 9th, 1928

Keith — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 03:50:10 GMT

Happy birthday Mom.

I love and miss you.

Keith

KariMcLeod.com

Keith — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 20:22:01 GMT

My baby is going to graduate college this December with a graphic design degree. This morning we set up her web site and portfolio. She's very talented. And in need of a job! If you need some design work, you should give her a call.

http://www.KariMcLeod.com

Pretty Bad!

Keith — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:05:16 GMT

My brother in law bought a new camera so I bought his old one. A very nice Canon EOS Rebel. I think it was made in 2003 and I got a great deal on it.

I just got back from a week in Fort Lauderdale Florida yesterday. I took the camera with me and took a whopping 6 pictures. Six. Pictures. In a week.

I must do better.

What happened to spring?

Keith — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 11:49:02 GMT

When I was a kid, I don't ever remember snow on the ground for Easter. It was always warm. Now it seems that it's always cold and nasty. Even when the kids were little we always had to cover up their new Easter dresses with a big heavy coat when they were hunting Easter eggs.

This is what we see out of our front door this morning. Snow. Snow and gray skies. And it's cold! The wind chill, yes, a wind chill in April, is 12 degrees. The high today is 31 degrees. Below freezing. We're starting the second week of April and it's not going to get above freezing. Sigh.

This is the forecast for today in Phoenix...

Tell me again why I live here? I'll take the heat over the cold any day. I must be getting old. :)