Thursday, January 31, 2008

News?

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything recently. I've been doing some home improvement jobs and honestly don't think anybody cares about those pictures besides the homeowner.

The annual Super Bowl morning ice fish celebration this Sunday should have something to share, ice permitting.

Hey, ho, the Detroit Mayor's got to go!!

Trail Head

Monday, January 7, 2008

Foggy Mountain Breakdown

On a foggy, misty, slushy, and mild afternoon, Doke and I took off to fish Pontiac Lake on Sunday. Not that I’ve ever been there, but it was like London out there with visuals limited to about twenty yards. It was a pretty wild scene when a plane would be heard in the distance from Pontiac Airport and ride right over you but you couldn’t see it. You weren’t sure if it was going to come out of the fog and land on you.

This was my first opportunity to see Doke’s new fishing gadget, the Aqua-Vu. I must say, I need to get me one of these. It basically is a small television with about fifty yards of wire connected to a camera that looks like a fish. You lower the fish/camera down and boom, you see
what is lurking near your lure and whatever else is showing up. The view is incredibly clear. He had quite the setup in his shanty with the Aqua-Vu next to his portable television with the football game on. Besides us two, there were three other people out that we could see. With the fog, there could have been a hundred others out and we wouldn’t have known. It was a surreal scene visually. I caught a couple of small perch and that was it for production for the day. It was good to get out, however.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Cheese Country - Happy New Year? Not so fast.

It was off to Wisconsin last week to take part in the Damrow Festival, a collection of Amy’s family and one Michigander, me. The actual location was Bailey’s Harbor and Egg Harbor within Door County, Wisconsin, north of Green Bay. The area, to say the least, is an outdoor enthusiast paradise. There are many parks, rivers, and lakes to choose from in addition to some beautiful forests. I took the train into Milwaukee on December 27th and met up with Amy. While heading up north, I couldn’t visit Wisconsin without hitting one of their Supper Clubs. We stopped at a place north of Manitowoc called Machut’s Supper Club. My chicken dinner was outstanding! I love the whole Supper Club concept and I wish Michigan had more of them. You get your orders in at the lounge area, have a few cocktails and mingle. They call you a bit later for your seats and boom, your meal is there. From there we headed up to her dad’s “Cabinette” in the woods at Egg Harbor. It is a cabin but a manufactured one so someone was driving behind this wide load on the freeway at one time. The place resides in a complex called Heritage Lake. I would classify it as a manufactured home/trailer park in the woods. Each house is surrounded by mature trees and a majority of the homes are manufactured with a few trailers mixed in. The nice part about it is you can call ahead and advise the management that you are arriving and they will plow your drive and turn your heat on before you get there. It was VIP treatment all the way. The clubhouse has a pool and hot tub so that was another bonus for Saturday morning’s activities. We took our cross country skis out to Peninsula State Park just north of Egg Harbor and hit some beautifully groomed trails in the woods. No deer to report but I did come upon six or seven turkeys. With the size of the park, the camping facilities, Green Bay (the lake), and the many trails, I would have to guess this place really packs them in during the summer. After skiing, we got a bite to eat at the Shipwrecked Brewery in Egg Harbor. It was a pretty cool place with good beer; but if you go, avoid the burgers. Amy had one and about three hours later was down for the count for the night. The Michigan State bowl game was on television so I had my football fix while she rested. She rebounded well on Saturday morning so all was not lost.
We met up with Amy’s family at a rented house in Bailey’s Harbor Saturday afternoon/evening. There were twelve of us total so I got to meet the entire posse and their siblings in one swoop. They were all good people. The house was great with quite a bit of space in addition to woods in the back yard with a location far enough from the main roads and neighbors to enjoy some serenity. Each family had cooking duty designated each day and the meals were outstanding, even for a picky eater like myself.
Amy and I headed out to Whitefish Dunes State Park on Sunday morning for some more cross country skiing (more on the skis later). The park is situated off of Lake Michigan. With the four or so inches of snow the area received on Friday evening, the trails were groomed and in great condition. Right off the trail is a quarter mile or so walk up to a point called Old Baldy. From there you can see Lake Michigan on one side and Green Bay on the other. It was worth the hike up there.
Amy’s niece and nephew put on a Christmas play for the group Sunday before dinner. It was quite a 20 minute or so performance. There is no way I could have remembered so many lines when I was in 1st and 3rd grade. Those are two talented kids, and quite well mannered. After dinner, it was gift exchange/stocking stuffer time. Everybody bought something for each stocking. I am assuming Amy at one time or another advised the family that I eat peanut butter and jelly for lunch every day. I got four jars of organic peanut butter and five jars of jelly, locally produced. No complaints here though. They will be put to good use. All in all, it was a great time spent with some good people.
The trip home, however, was another story. My rental car had to be returned in Milwaukee on the 31st by noon and my train was leaving at 3:00 pm. I made the rental car return with no problem and headed to the train station with my luggage, lap top, and skis in tow. I was hungry and had to catch up a bit on some work so I asked the ticket desk if I could leave my skis and luggage there while I headed off for lunch prior to my train leaving. No problem and I was off. So 3:00 pm rolls around and I have everything ready to board the train. I walk past the train attendant who advises me that the skis can’t be carried on the train. They would need to be checked as luggage but it was too late to check them in at this time. I had a choice of waiting for the next train or leaving the skis. I advised the attendant that I came to Milwaukee with the skis on board and nobody at any stop, including the Milwaukee ticket counter, made any mention of it. I had a connecting train in Chicago so waiting for the next train was not an option. What to do? Me or the skis? I bought the skis used awhile back and was contemplating getting a new pair so while I was pretty mad, I left the skis and boarded the train in a bit of a huff. A few minutes later, another attendant stopped at my seat and advised the ticket desk has my skis and they will ship them to me. My guess is I have to pay for the shipping but an e-mail and a letter have already been sent to Amtrak so we’ll see how that all plays out.

The fun didn’t stop there. The train got into Chicago with no problems and I got on the connecting train headed to Ann Arbor without a hitch at 6:00 pm. The train made stops in Niles and Kalamazoo and was at the Battle Creek stop at around 10:00 pm when everything stopped. The train was dead. I don’t know anything about trains but there was no power whatsoever; only the emergency lights were on. The conductor came on and advised of the problem and said they were looking into it. Two hours later, it was determined that this train wasn’t going anywhere tonight and buses would be called to get us home. Everybody (about 100 of us) got into the station and waited for the buses that we all expected would be arriving shortly. Three hours later at 3:00 am, here come the buses. All set, right? As everybody is leaving the station for the buses, the two drivers had a little pow wow and said the roads were too bad and that it wasn’t going to happen. The Amtrak folks then told everyone that we would be put up in a hotel for the night and would get us home tomorrow, somehow. It’s 3:30 am now; tomorrow is already here! I had my lap top and a wireless calling card so I Googled “Battle Creek cab” and hoped for the best. I got in touch with a company and was lucky enough that they had a driver willing to make the trek to Ann Arbor with the way the roads were. I-94 was pretty much a two track so kudos to Scott the driver for getting me there. It
did cost a bit but was well worth it. I got home at about 7:00 am on Monday morning. Happy New Year to me!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Bus Rider

I am fortunate in that the Renaissance Center and General Motors have a bus service available for employees. With my house roughly 30 miles from downtown, it saves immensely on gas and wear/tear on my truck not to mention the relax time during the ride. At $75/month, it is quite a deal. It also is key that I have a boss that will allow me to work from 7-4 each day. If a conference call or meeting from hell is dragging on too long, “sorry, I have to catch my bus.” It has saved me a few times.


For those that are wondering if I’m actually riding the “short” bus, I’ve attached a few pictures of the bus and my driver, Nosh, who I believe has only been in the U.S. for a short time. He may have a thick Russian accent but damn can he haul some ass during rush hour weaving in and out of traffic. My only gripe at him is that he waits for every last person to arrive in the morning (patience isn’t one of my strengths). When that clock strikes 6:25 a.m., it’s time for the bus to go! I know things can happen for someone to be late but when you are consistently late, I have a problem with you. I give dirty looks to the chronic stragglers and sometimes will look at my watch while they walk by. One time last year I even printed out the schedule with a note attached to it saying something to the effect of “I know you don’t mean to be late every day but it’s not fair to the roughly 60 other people on the bus who have to wait for you.” It worked and a few others on the bus told me thanks.
The bus makes stops at Milford Rd, Schoolcraft College (my stop), and Telegraph/I-96. The same people ride each day so you get to know all of their habits. The front of the bus is a pack of ladies who jibber jab the entire ride. The back of the bus are the sleepers. I’m usually somewhere in the middle with my radio headset going, blocking out the world (sounds about right, eh?). We have one lady who will change seats three or four times when she first gets on the bus. There are two ladies who must have knitted enough items to clothe a small country. There is one guy who stares at his lap top the entire ride, another who ties fly fishing lures, and a few who absolutely must lean their chairs back into my legs even though they are only five feet all. All in all though, the whole experience is not too bad.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

"I Do" Club - New Member

I’m sorry I’m late reporting this but I wanted to give kudos to a fellow Seadog who got married this fall. Dave McVeigh has joined the “I do” club with his new wife, Mardy. Mardy McVeigh, that has a nice ring to it. I can hear the sports announcers now, “Mardy McVeigh for two!!!” Or the Price Is Right announcer, “Mardy McVeigh, come on down!!!”

With Dave joining the “I do” club, let’s see who that leaves in our group who haven’t made the jump….hmmm….oh yeah…..ME!!!!! I’m not sure if I can leave my post as president of the GDI club but stranger things have happened.

Congrats Mardy and Dave!

Monday, December 10, 2007

21st Annual Merrill Hall Christmas Party

Last Saturday was the 21st annual Merrill Hall Christmas gathering at Lucy and Mike Weaver’s home in Portage. The concept started in 1986 with a couple of dorm rooms scraping their returnables and whatever was left from their cafeteria job paychecks and exchanging gifts to each other. As I was living in the ever so spacious Western Island apartments (insert sarcasm) in 1986 and bolted for Michigan State the following year, I didn’t have the privilege of seeing this spectacle during its inception. I’ve been told there were some outstanding gifts in the early years. There was everything from a pack of Swisher Sweet cigars to some Hendrix material. Everybody was kind of poor but definitely merry I’ve been told.

Amy and I checked into our hotel around five on Saturday with intentions of grabbing a bite to eat locally before heading over to Lucy and Mike’s place. I spoke to Jim M. earlier and told him that he and his un-tethered group of husbands (posse of five – scary) were more than welcome to join us. Jim advised they were on the fence in either getting something to eat or heading over to the party. With that, Amy and I headed out for a bite. After heading further north than I expected before seeing a place worth hitting, we ended up at Shakespeare’s Pub and Restaurant in Kalamazoo. We weren’t sure if we would have to listen to some Shakespeare reading before eating but after seeing the many televisions with sports on, that thought quickly vanished. While eating, my phone rang with a call from the un-tethered group of husbands advising that nobody brought directions to the Weaver’s and needed help. Five people and not one had directions or a phone number at the Weaver’s??? Sad. It’s amazing these guys were able to dress themselves. The crazy part of the whole thing is they were just driving by the place we were eating when they called. Come on over! After a good meal, our two car caravan headed to the gathering.

The party was a great time. It was a nice blend of former Chippewa’s and a circle of friends from that group. The food choices consisted of Al’s pulled pork sandwiches, some pigs in a blanket, chicken wings, a cheese ball, and assorted deserts. Good stuff! As it appears to be an ongoing tradition with these parties, the garage became the ideal gathering place. Before the gift exchange, word spread on Eric’s need to wear a cape for some reason (Captain Beam?). Lucy was able to pull a cape out and off Eric went in gathering the group and spreading good cheer.

After the gift exchange, a band of Mike (on guitar), Jim (on bongos), and others belted out the verses to many songs, however, the group fell a bit short in actually completing an entire song. After “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,” it was all downhill. One song everyone did join in was a birthday sing-a-long for Mark C. The big 41! Congrats Mark.

I don’t think there was any donkey-ness unless I was the one making an ass out of myself. As it becomes more difficult these days to gather the entire group, it is great that at least one day a year we ALL can get together with the entire posse and giggle about the past, appreciate the present, and look forward to the future. Happy Holidays!








Monday, November 19, 2007

40! Life Keeps Moving

Well, it happened. I tried to stop time but November 15th came and went and with that, I became a 40 year old. A fun celebration it was. It started on November 14th with a nice evening in Lansing spent with Amy. She gave me a nice little care package for my birthday filled with organic treats (with a few beers mixed in for good measure). For those of you who haven’t met Amy, she is very earth conscious, which I think is a great thing. If we all had her passion for the earth, I don’t think we would have half the environmental problems we have today. She puts Al Gore to shame.

Jim M. was gracious enough to be my designated driver on my birthday Thursday. Al and Greg also came along for the festivities. We did a nice little bar tour hitting the Grand River locations from Wixon to New Hudson and back towards Novi. One thing I did find out that night was I just can’t do the hardcore partying like I used to (not sure if I ever could). I started strong but faded pretty quickly as we moved towards the latter part of the evening when the twenty-somethings were just getting going. The night was supposed to be a surprise but I messed it up because I was planning on heading north on my day. Sorry about that Jim. It worked out for the best though.

With my melon thumping pretty well, I ventured north on Friday morning up towards Rob’s place in Irons. He was heading up later that day so I took the scenic route up north of Gaylord, over to Boyne City, East Jordan and up along gargantuan Lake Charlevoix. I even caught a few glimpses of some snow in the area. A beautiful joy ride it was.

With it being the start of deer hunting season, the state land around Rob’s place was filled with orange-headed humans. Rob wasn’t too happy in that the area he usually hunts had others crowding him. Needless to say, the big buck wasn’t to be on this opening weekend for Rob. I did, however, witness something at Rob’s place that is more elusive than a twelve point buck, a bald eagle, or Dave McVeigh having a full tank of gas (Hi Dave).
I had heard rumors that it existed but never thought it would come to fruition. I was in such awe that I had to take a picture of it. Rob had a television on at his place!!!! Wow!

On a side note, I’m sorry I haven’t had more frequent updates on this site recently. I have to get out there!

Bye for now.


Trail Head