Ben's Blog

We have a position open at Grand Valley State University for a web Designer/Developer type person. If you know of someone please send them the following link!

http://www.gvsujobs.org/applicants/Central?quickFind=179264

I saw the following video this morning on Fox News while waiting for the shuttle to take me from the car dealership to the office. No one else in the waiting area found this as amusing as I did, but I was laughing out loud.

A Central Illinois woman is in hog heaven. She won the top prize at one of the Illinois State Fair’s most popular events. Doris Probst whooped, hollered and oinked her way to prize in the hog calling competition.

The webteam, along with my brother and his friend, spent the weekend in Tawas. Weather wise the weekend was a bust – kind of cool and off and on rain, no where close to the predicted “partly sunny and mid 70s” that was predicted.

I went up Thursday night to prepare for everyone on Friday, and worked from the cabin on Friday over dial up. Surprisingly, this went pretty, however most of my work was limited to email, a couple small changes to sites and twitter, of course. Friday afternoon/evening I picked up a new tree (flowering pear) for the front yard; after planting that I created a watering contraption to slowly water the tree throughout the week while I am not there. Despite my best efforts to remember to take a picture…I forgot. I also took along my smoker and prepared a 9 pound pork roast. It was very delicious, and gone by Saturday night.

Saturday brought the canoe trip down the Au Sable river. Despite the heaviest rain fall I have ever seen, followed by bone-chilling wind, I had a great time. I managed not to tip MY canoe, but I did however tip Eric and Falon’s, sending Falon into the river along with all her dry clothing. Eric came up with the following map showing our adventure:

View Larger Map

Everyone slept in a bit on Sunday morning (although some took a break from sleep to see the sunrise) and slowly got ready to leave after a big pancake breakfast. Having nothing to rush back to, I stayed late at the cabin and thoroughly cleaned the place. I think the kitchen floor was a different color once I was through mopping and I swept out enough sand to fill a small sand box. I think the next expansion/addition to the cabin will need to be a vestibule / mud room!

I forgot that I had a camera in the basement watching over our dog’s (Bailey/Beagle) area until he escaped the other day chewing up a little more woodwork around the basement door.  I’ve tried to check in periodically to make sure I can still see him but I get wrapped up with work so I usually forget to check.  If you’re ever bored and want to check in on Bailey feel free – just let me know if you can’t find him so I can rush home and save the door from being chewed off it’s hinges.

Check out the video here.

If you’re wondering what all the mess is around him – that is his “nest.”  We layer his crate with blankets, which he then removes from the crate to shred and then he pushes all the little pieces into a pile and sleeps on them.  I’m pretty sure it is his way of saying “F.U. for locking me in the utility room.”

Holly and I took a break from the family happenings to celebrate our 6th Anniversary – I planned a unique trip to Alpena, Michigan to visit and stay the night on Middle Island at the Middle Island Keeper’s Lodge.  Our stay was great – Captain Mike was an excellent host, with a wealth of information on the history of the island and he even gave us an all-access tour of the lighthouse.  We also spent a bit of time swimming and walking perfectly groomed trails.  We didn’t run across any of the deer on the island but we did see a bald eagle and many other small birds that flew right up to us as we were walking.

The lodge was very rustic with gas lights inside, no power, and an outdoor shower and privy – but not too rustic that you felt like you were camping or roughing it.  There was a gas stove and fridge along with plumbing operated by a 12 volt pump outside.  The view from the deck was great: the lighthouse and Keeper’s House were to one side and Lake Huron was right in front of you.  The sounds of the waves mixed with no other distractions was very peaceful.

Our trip home came too soon so we’ll have to plan a visit back with friends soon.  I highly recommend this destination if you’re looking for one of the most unique spots in Michigan.  I had almost given up as I was having a hard time connecting with Captain Mike, but it is worth the wait to set something up with him.

You can check out the rest of my photos on Flickr.