Hannah vs. The Outbreak Monkey

Over the past month or so, everybody in the family has been battling one form of illness or another.  It all started with everyone suffering from bad stomach cramping.  It then evolved into a mutant virus that might be confused with the stomach flu.

Emma was the first to begin exhibiting flu-like symptoms.  She ended up missing two days of school and, even now, is still not functioning at 100%.  Holly also got hit by this bug causing her to miss three days of work.  I think that she is now finally over it after a week of suffering.  I’ve been experiencing some symptoms including stomach discomfort and a fever but, so far, I’ve managed to avoid too much downtime. Alex has been able to avoid the majority of the contagions very effectively.  Hannah, on the other hand, has not.

All Aboard!

In an effort to further reduce expenses associated with commuting to and from work, I’ve decided to quit my job and become a ward of the state through the glories of the welfare system.  Actually, that’s not exactly accurate.  What I meant to say is that I’ve started taking UTA’s FrontRunner service to and from the office.

About a month ago, Holly mentioned that Weber State students are able to get free bus passes.  These passes also include passage aboard FrontRunner, Utah’s version of a “high speed” commuter train that runs from Ogden to Salt Lake and back again.  While I question these alleged high speeds, it does a nice job of getting me to work in about the same amount of time that it would take me to drive.  It’s also free for me since I’m a student so it’s really a no lose situation.  The only downside is if I miss the train.  Waiting on the platform for 30 minutes until the next train arrives isn’t fun.

What A Week…

I know that it’s been a while since I posted anything.  I actually have good reasons for not doing so.  Last week was complete chaos in the Zohner home.  Let me try and catch everyone up.

Last Friday, my sister Chelsea got married.  Because of this, my mom came into town from Denver.  The last time she was here, she made a comment about how the basement looked just as it had months earlier when she last saw it.  I wasn’t about to let that happen again so I spent 35 hours over the weekend painting and installing the home theater speakers.  I started on Friday afternoon and finally finished Sunday evening.  Lucky for me, Chelsea and Nick came over and helped a bit which actually ended up helping a lot because without them, I wouldn’t have been ready on Monday when we had the flooring installed.  Now I just have a few things left and then the basement will be complete.  YAY!

Death’s Icy Embrace May Be Near

I think that I’m dying.  As I type this, I can barely breathe, my chest hurts, I’m sweating profusely, and I want to go lie down.  No, I’m not sick.  I’m just physically exhausted from pushing our car half a mile to our house.  This is probably confusing to you so let me start at the beginning.

Our 1994 Dodge Colt has 198,000+ miles on it and has been trying to completely die on us for the last few years.  We’ve managed to keep it going by replacing the clutch, transmission, fuel pump, and distributor.  Over the past few months, the car has been able to drive shorter and shorter distances each time we take it anywhere.  This hasn’t been too big of a deal because the weather has been warm meaning that I could drive my scooter.  Now that it’s getting colder in the mornings though, I’ve been wanting to be able to feel my fingers when I get to the office.  Yesterday I drove the car into work knowing full well that I might not get home.  I was right.  It died half a mile from the house.

The Baseboards Strike Back

I’ve come to a horrible realization over the past week as I have been cutting and installing the baseboards and door moldings in the basement: I’m allergic to the wood that I’m using.  Well, that’s somewhat misleading because I’m not using real wood.  I’m actually using medium-density fiberboard or MDF as it’s more commonly called.  MDF is an engineered wood made by breaking down softwood into wood fibers and then combining it with a wax and resin binder.

Something that I’ve learned about it is that formaldehyde resins are commonly used to bind MDF together, and testing has consistently revealed that MDF products emit formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds that pose health risks at sufficient concentrations, for at least several months after manufacture.  Well, I think that I have some recently produced MDF in my basement.

Another Weekend In The Mountains

Last Friday we loaded up the van and headed back up into the mountains to do some more camping.  We liked where we camped a few weeks ago so much that we decided to go a few miles up the road.  Actually, the campgrounds were all reserved months ago.  We just happened to get lucky in the fact that they were great places to pitch a tent.  But I digress…

Camping with friends is always more fun so we went with our friends, John and Dana Rimington and their three daughters.  For additional fun points, we also brought along Chelsea and her soon to be husband, Nick.  We tried to get my brother, Ryan, to come too but he had to work.  Maybe next time…  It was really nice spending time with everybody.  The kids enjoyed playing with John and Dana’s girls and they loved having Nick and Chelsea along.  I know though that if Ryan had been able to make it, he would have been the star of the weekend.  The kids love playing with him so much.

Back In The Workforce

This week Holly began orientation for her new job.  Yes, that’s right.  Holly has re-entered the workforce.  This time though, instead of playing with surgical tools, she gets to play with real live people.

Let me start at the beginning.  A few weeks back, Holly found a job posting for a LPN in the psych ward at a hospital in Ogden.  It was a part time position and she was itching to start using her nursing abilities so she applied, interviewed, and got the job.

The job will be good for a few reasons.  First, Holly will have better benefits than I do which is never a bad thing.  It’s also an IHC facility which we learned from her stint at LDS Hospital is just plain awesome.  (They treated her really well when she worked for them before.)  They will also work around her school schedule which will allow her to finish her last semester of nursing school, become a RN, then move to a different department (hopefully labor and delivery.)  Probably the best part though is that she’ll get experience in a medical field.  Sure, she could go to work at a nursing home but who wants to do that when you can work in a psychiatric ward?

Our Poor Dog

Remember the old Tom & Jerry cartoon where Tom ran over the mother duck removing all of her feathers, thus exposing her underwear?  Tom then got his comeuppance when the mother ducks boyfriend/husband/care taker ran over Tom’s back with the same mower.  If you don’t remember this classic cartoon, here you go.  (The stuff I’m talking about starts at about the 5:40 mark.)

Though it doesn’t show it in this episode, I know that footage exists of Tom getting run over by a mower and we actually get to see the results: a nice bald stripe right up the middle of his back.  This is funny until it happens to your dog.  A couple of days ago, something similar happened to our pet dog, Oscar.

Thank Goodness For Helmets

No, I didn’t crash my scooter.  I am grateful for motorcycle helmets though.  Have you ever been shot by a BB gun?  They hurt.  Lots of stinging and usually a nice welt for the next hour or so.  Well, driving on a scooter at 55 miles an hour is a lot like getting shot repeatedly by a BB gun.  There are lots of little bugs that would normally hit a windshield when you’re in a car that hit your face, hands, arms, and neck when you’re on a scooter.

This morning as I was driving to work, I got hit by at least three big bugs on the visor of my helmet.  One of them left a nice little splat the size of a dime.  I’m so glad that it didn’t hit me in the face because it would not have felt good.

We’re Fuel Efficient

With gas at nearly $4.00 a gallon, Holly and I are looking for any way to save money that we can. We don’t do a lot of driving but I manage to go about 30 miles each day to and from work and Holly seems to be spending a lot on gas for the van. She doesn’t drive far but costs seem to be adding up due to the fact that it’s a van that doesn’t get great gas mileage.

We’ve been talking about it for a few years, but after running some numbers, factoring in current, and probable future gas prices, we finally decided that it was advantageous for us to purchase another vehicle. No, we didn’t get a hybrid and we still have both the van and the Colt. We bought a scooter.