Last night at the dinner table, my wife was questioning the kids about the whereabouts of her manicure/pedicure set. My youngest son piped up saying that he had seen his older twin brother with it earlier, to which the older boy began to deny immediately and repeatedly. This is usually a sign that he is guilty, so we questioned him about it.
Me- "If you didn't have it, where didn't you have it at?"
Him- "It would be on the fouton downstairs if I didn't have it."
So much for denial.
Take care. Stick.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Origin Of Pick Up Sticks
I have had people ask me why my blog is called "Pick up Sticks". If you look at the actual IP address, it is wordcarvin.blogspot.
When I was growing up, one of the people that I admired was an "Uncle" who carved wooden chains and other things. I was always amazed at what he could create with a pocket knife and a piece of wood. When I got to college, I became invovled in an outdoor youth program, for which I worked as a counselor for four years. During this time, I began to whittle, trying to create some of the things that I had seen my "Uncle" create. I think the first thing I ever carved was a wooden spoon, which I used while out in the mountains on this outdoor program. I carved a new spoon each week, and they gradually began to get more elaborate. I even carved one for my director's new born son that had a ball in a cage in the handle. Before long, I had started trying other things, including the wooden chains that I so admired. My initial creations were quite rough, but I was as proud of my first five link chain as of anything I had ever done.
The program I was working for required a great deal of hiking, and in fact I added up the mileage that I covered during that time to somewhere around 2400 miles in my association with the program. Naturally when hiking that many miles, and liking to carve and whittle, I started carving walking sticks. Again, my initial efforts were just basic sticks, functional, but not much to them. It became a tradition for me to burn this stick in the middle of the last campfire of each week. Then, one week, my co-counselor for the week (we were paired up as "ma" and "pa" to a group of participants) aksed if she could keep the stick rather than have me burn it, and I agreed. The next thing I knew, every counselor in camp was asking for the next stick. So as not to disappoint anyone, I agreed to carve walking sticks for anyone who wanted one as long as they found a good serviceable stick, and told me what they wanted it to look like. This tradition continued over the next four and half years and beyond. I have carved over 300 sticks. Some more elaborate than others. Some just had the person's name. Others had eagles, bears, and fish.
I don't carve as much as I used to now, I just don't seem to have the time, but I still watch for a good sound walking stick whenever I am out in the mountains, and I still carve for people who are special to me. SO remember the rules: Find a good sound stick (I prefer to carve aspen); decide what you want the stick to look like; give me the stick with your description.
I don't guarantee a work of art, just a work of heart.
Take care. Stick.
When I was growing up, one of the people that I admired was an "Uncle" who carved wooden chains and other things. I was always amazed at what he could create with a pocket knife and a piece of wood. When I got to college, I became invovled in an outdoor youth program, for which I worked as a counselor for four years. During this time, I began to whittle, trying to create some of the things that I had seen my "Uncle" create. I think the first thing I ever carved was a wooden spoon, which I used while out in the mountains on this outdoor program. I carved a new spoon each week, and they gradually began to get more elaborate. I even carved one for my director's new born son that had a ball in a cage in the handle. Before long, I had started trying other things, including the wooden chains that I so admired. My initial creations were quite rough, but I was as proud of my first five link chain as of anything I had ever done.
The program I was working for required a great deal of hiking, and in fact I added up the mileage that I covered during that time to somewhere around 2400 miles in my association with the program. Naturally when hiking that many miles, and liking to carve and whittle, I started carving walking sticks. Again, my initial efforts were just basic sticks, functional, but not much to them. It became a tradition for me to burn this stick in the middle of the last campfire of each week. Then, one week, my co-counselor for the week (we were paired up as "ma" and "pa" to a group of participants) aksed if she could keep the stick rather than have me burn it, and I agreed. The next thing I knew, every counselor in camp was asking for the next stick. So as not to disappoint anyone, I agreed to carve walking sticks for anyone who wanted one as long as they found a good serviceable stick, and told me what they wanted it to look like. This tradition continued over the next four and half years and beyond. I have carved over 300 sticks. Some more elaborate than others. Some just had the person's name. Others had eagles, bears, and fish.
I don't carve as much as I used to now, I just don't seem to have the time, but I still watch for a good sound walking stick whenever I am out in the mountains, and I still carve for people who are special to me. SO remember the rules: Find a good sound stick (I prefer to carve aspen); decide what you want the stick to look like; give me the stick with your description.
I don't guarantee a work of art, just a work of heart.
Take care. Stick.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Under the Knife
My number three daughter just had minor surgery on her left foot to correct something called "Haglan's Deformity". This is a protuberance of the heel bone with cartilidge that builds up around it to form a large bump on the heel. This has been a source of irritation to her as she runs and participates in sports, so we decided to have the surgery done. SHe will have the other foot done in about two weeks.
Now, for those of you who know her, she HATES needles. When she goes for innoculations, she starts crying before they even stick her. The Dr. said he would give her a valium before he took her back to numb the area for surgery. Twenty minutes after taking the Valium, they came out to get her, and she was still as alert as she had been before. He offered her another Valium, but told her it would delay the surgery another twenty minutes. She reluctantly agreed to just let him numb her ankle area for the surgery. I would have offered her a bullet to bite on if I had had one. As it was, I thought about joking around right before he brought out the hypodermic. I was going to shout, "Man! Look at the size of that needle!" Luckily, I restrained myself, so we did not have to pull her off the ceiling to continue.
We are now hoping everything heals the way the Dr. wants it to, and that she has no further problems. Time will tell.
Take care. Stick.
Now, for those of you who know her, she HATES needles. When she goes for innoculations, she starts crying before they even stick her. The Dr. said he would give her a valium before he took her back to numb the area for surgery. Twenty minutes after taking the Valium, they came out to get her, and she was still as alert as she had been before. He offered her another Valium, but told her it would delay the surgery another twenty minutes. She reluctantly agreed to just let him numb her ankle area for the surgery. I would have offered her a bullet to bite on if I had had one. As it was, I thought about joking around right before he brought out the hypodermic. I was going to shout, "Man! Look at the size of that needle!" Luckily, I restrained myself, so we did not have to pull her off the ceiling to continue.
We are now hoping everything heals the way the Dr. wants it to, and that she has no further problems. Time will tell.
Take care. Stick.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
One Word Tag
1. Where is your cell phone? daughter
2. Your significant other? beautiful
3. Your hair? speckled
4. Your mother? amazing
5. Your best friend? Kelly
6. Your favorite thing? food (see 15)
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your favorite drink? chocomilk
9. Your dream/goal? author
10. The room you're in? den
11. Your children? argumentative
12. Your fear? drowning
13. Where do you want to be in 10 years? wealthy :o)
14. Where were you last night? dinner
15. What you're not? skinny
16. Muffins? corn
17. One of your wish list items? shed
18. Where you grew up? Texas
19. What you read last? mine
20. What are you wearing? shorts
21. Your TV? Burn
22. Your pets? none
23. Your computer? Dell
24. Your life? hectic
25. Your mood? relaxed
26. Missing someone? no
27. Your car? Yukon
28. Something you're not wearing? hat
29. Favorite Store? Cabellas
30. Your summer? relaxing
31. Like someone? yes
32. Your favorite color? Green
33. Last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? sometime
35. Your favorite thing? outside
2. Your significant other? beautiful
3. Your hair? speckled
4. Your mother? amazing
5. Your best friend? Kelly
6. Your favorite thing? food (see 15)
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your favorite drink? chocomilk
9. Your dream/goal? author
10. The room you're in? den
11. Your children? argumentative
12. Your fear? drowning
13. Where do you want to be in 10 years? wealthy :o)
14. Where were you last night? dinner
15. What you're not? skinny
16. Muffins? corn
17. One of your wish list items? shed
18. Where you grew up? Texas
19. What you read last? mine
20. What are you wearing? shorts
21. Your TV? Burn
22. Your pets? none
23. Your computer? Dell
24. Your life? hectic
25. Your mood? relaxed
26. Missing someone? no
27. Your car? Yukon
28. Something you're not wearing? hat
29. Favorite Store? Cabellas
30. Your summer? relaxing
31. Like someone? yes
32. Your favorite color? Green
33. Last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? sometime
35. Your favorite thing? outside
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Out With The Old--In With The New!
Thursday, we made a trip out of town to take my oldest daughter to a Doctor for her tonsils. Yes, we went out of town for this. EVERYBODY told her not to let the local guy do this. We went to an ENT we used before we moved where we currently live. He took one look at her tonsils, and said that they needed to come out right away, and he wanted to schedule the surgery for the next day. We agreed to get a motel room, then found out that the surgery center where he operates would not accept our insurance. We had to go to one of his associates, who operates at the local hospital there, that does accept our insurance. He looked at her tonsils, and agreed that they needed to come out, but also informed her that he thought she had MONO which had brought on the state her tonsils were in. (She did)
Meanwhile, we knew we would be in this town, so had looked on the Internet for a new vehicle. We had specific things we were looking for, and hadn't been able to find anything locally. We found just what we wanted advertised at a dealership in this town, so went to look at it. It was JUST what we wanted! We decided to wait, and come back later to see if we could qualify, because....
Meanwhile, our house was closing that same day, and we did not know if it was off our credit rating yet.
The results-- We came home with one less home, two less HUMONGOUS tonsils, and a year old car.
We are happy with all the results! (Or will be once the oldest daughter recuperates)
Take care. Stick.
Meanwhile, we knew we would be in this town, so had looked on the Internet for a new vehicle. We had specific things we were looking for, and hadn't been able to find anything locally. We found just what we wanted advertised at a dealership in this town, so went to look at it. It was JUST what we wanted! We decided to wait, and come back later to see if we could qualify, because....
Meanwhile, our house was closing that same day, and we did not know if it was off our credit rating yet.
The results-- We came home with one less home, two less HUMONGOUS tonsils, and a year old car.
We are happy with all the results! (Or will be once the oldest daughter recuperates)
Take care. Stick.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Wrong Number
It's 5:18 am. and the phone rings. I wake from a sound sleep and answer it. BEEP....10 seconds...BEEP. It is a computer calling. I hang up in disgust.
Twenty minutes later, it calls back again. My automated voice caller ID tells me, "Call from West Virginia." I answer and hang up again.
REPEAT every day for the last ten days.
The phone company cannot identify the company calling. I cannot call them back to tell them to stop calling. The call block feature only works on local numbers.
I called the annoyance division, and they (computer voice) tell me that calls between certain hours are legal, and I cannot do anything about them.
One helpful operator finally tells me that for a fee ($1.25 per incident) I can trace the call, and after it has been traced successfully three times (with no gurantee of success on any given try), the police can then pursue harassment charges against whatever company they find at fault.
Anybody know a good computer Hacker?
Take care. Stick.
Twenty minutes later, it calls back again. My automated voice caller ID tells me, "Call from West Virginia." I answer and hang up again.
REPEAT every day for the last ten days.
The phone company cannot identify the company calling. I cannot call them back to tell them to stop calling. The call block feature only works on local numbers.
I called the annoyance division, and they (computer voice) tell me that calls between certain hours are legal, and I cannot do anything about them.
One helpful operator finally tells me that for a fee ($1.25 per incident) I can trace the call, and after it has been traced successfully three times (with no gurantee of success on any given try), the police can then pursue harassment charges against whatever company they find at fault.
Anybody know a good computer Hacker?
Take care. Stick.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Home away from Home
Well, after nearly 9 months of trying, we are finally selling our house in Idaho.
The realtor gets close to $9000. The people buying get $350 of their rent back. The guy who fixed the foundation leak gets about $1000. The state tax commission gets all of their blood money, close to $1000.
We are getting no money out of the deal, and in fact will probably have to come up with some money to close the deal, but at least it will be sold.
Somewhere along the way, I thought this was a good deal. Maybe not. I hope it will be in the end.
Take care. Stick
The realtor gets close to $9000. The people buying get $350 of their rent back. The guy who fixed the foundation leak gets about $1000. The state tax commission gets all of their blood money, close to $1000.
We are getting no money out of the deal, and in fact will probably have to come up with some money to close the deal, but at least it will be sold.
Somewhere along the way, I thought this was a good deal. Maybe not. I hope it will be in the end.
Take care. Stick
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