Is Common Courtesy Too Much To Ask

Is everyone getting tired of all the television and radio ads of all the candidates for political office? The election season is simply way too long now days. And the way all these ads are run, all these candidates must want these offices really bad. Or do they?

I was not in attendance for this forum. This story was told to me by one of the organizers of this event, so technically, it's hearsay. But it comes from a very good source.

The Peoria Jaycees, along with the Biltmore Heights Neighborhood Association and the North Florence Neighborhood Association held a Local Candidates Forum on September 30th at Unity Church. In organizing the event, they invited all candidates for the 18th Congressional District, the 92nd Illinois Representative District, Peoria County Board for that area of the city, the Peoria County Coroner and the Peoria County States Attorney. Colleen Callahan, running for Congress, was the first to respond to the invitation. She unfortunately had other commitments, but offered to send someone to represent her. On the night of the event, Johanna Ingersoll was the first to arrive. Her opponent, Steve Schmidt was one of the last to arrive. The most headed exchange that night was between candidates for States Attorney, Kevin Lyons and Darin LaHood.

As for Aaron Schock, the organizers did not hear one way or another from him or his campaign if he could attend. Granted, there was not a lot of people there, Schock should have at least offered the common courtesy to respond to the invite. I guess these constituents didn't matter enough for him... not even for him to take the time to RSVP.

This is not the only time he has snubbed the Jaycees. In 2004 we tried to give him an award at the annual Distinguished Service Awards. He claimed he was unable to attend the banquet, and these things have happened with other award recipients. But usually these award winners get someone they work with or a family member to accept on their behalf. Not Aaron Schock. Despite how connected he is or appears to be, he claimed he could not find one person to accept his award. You can read more here.

I look at the slate of all candidates for office this year and I'm greatly disappointed as I am every 2 years. Again, we are getting more the same. We need leadership, not more politicians. I'll take an honest "average Joe" over a typical politician any day.

Bubbles Update

I've had a few requests on pictures and stories on Bubbles in the past few days.

Bubbles has been a member of the family for 3 weeks now. And she's been getting big... 15 pounds! She's starting to walk up stairs, but can't quite make them down yet. Bubbles has started jumping on the couch too. They grow up so fast!

Night time is not too bad as she sleeps through most of it in her crate. We let her out around 11pm and then back out around 6am. We then take her back to bed with us in the morning. The potty situation is getting better, but we have to stay alert. We don't think she's picked up on the fact that she's to go outside.

Bubbles has been to see the vet and it turns out she's completely healthy. Her heart murmer is gone, there's no sign of hernia and all is well.

This weekend she'll get to meet her Cousin Max and make a bunch of new friends at the Fall Bash.

You can see some more pictures of Bubbles at my Facebook and MySpace pages.

The Hot Tub From Hell

I've been in a battle since August trying to get my hot tub water clear. I'm happy to report the battle may soon be over.

After coming back from Alaska, I did a fresh fill, where you drain the tub and fill it with fresh water. But this time, the water started getting cloudier and cloudier with the passing of each day. By September, I was taking water samples to my friendly neighborhood hot tub store for advice. Over and over, I tried balancing all the various chemicals. The funny thing was was the balance of chemicals was not that out of whack.

I did discover a loose hose on the ozonator. In late September, I went out of town, but arranged to have the ozonator repaired while I was gone, hoping that would remedy my problems. I returned home the first of October, only to find the tub in about the same condition... or worse. It was so cloudy that there was only about 2-3 inches of visibility. I decided to do another fresh fill since I had already dumped so many chemicals into it earlier. You should go about 3-4 months between fresh fills, depending upon how much the hot tub is used.

A couple of days after the last fresh fill, the cloudiness was reappearing. Here we go again.

I made a number of return visits to the hot tub store with water samples seeking advice. Finally last Tuesday night I washed my filters using the dishwasher. Upon removing them, I noticed one filter worn out and torn in a few places. I already had suspicions that my problem could be within filtration. I thought I'd pick up a new filter (these things aren't that cheap) and try things with a new filter.

This morning, things didn't look any worse; possibly a little better. I took the old beat up filter in the store, to which the store clerk claimed "it's shot." My suspicions are looking to be correct.

So with 5 new filters, I'm draining the tub right now to fill with fresh water. With a bit of luck, I'll have crisp, clear water for the Fall Bash this Saturday!

The Adventures of Bubbles

Our first week with our new addition to the family has passed. Bubbles is now 7 weeks old and getting braver, cockier and more feisty. During this time she's met her grandparents, Aunt Shari, Cousin Jack (pictured to the left), Aunt Kerri and Cousin Sara as well as a few of our other friends.

After her first 2-3 days, she has settled into her new home very well and she's exploring new territory more and more. Bubbles is starting to think she's a big dog and that she can jump on the couch anytime she wants. Though we'd give her an A for effort, the fact is there's no way she can jump on the couch just yet. It's just too high. But she keeps trying. She also likes to lay under the coffee table or the kitchen table when she naps. That is if she's not laying next to you or on your lap as Bubbles likes to cuddle.

When it's time to play, lookout! Bubbles likes to chew on your fingers, your nose or ear, your shoe laces or toes. And her teeth are sharp. She doesn't bite down too hard, but she does get carried away at times. This past weekend she made a new friend, Noah (pictured below). Noah is Jennifer Brackney's dog whom we dog sat Saturday night. We took both dogs to the Bradley homecoming/tailgate. Bubbles merely slept while Noah was busy scrounging for food. But the two dogs played very well together.

Bubbles has been doing better at night. She hasn't cried the last two nights and sleeps soundly in her crate. Although, after we let her out early in the morning around 6am, we do bring her into bed with us. And we have to keep an eye on her as she wants to try to jump down from the bed. It's too high for her and we're afraid she'll hurt herself. But this morning as I was sitting on the edge of the bed, tying my shoes with the little Bubbles next to me, she quickly jumped down. It was kind of a clumsy land, but she was unharmed. Bubbles can be fast anymore.

We haven't done much in the area of potty training just yet, but she's learning to go outside. We even suspect she understands the word "outside."

And the adventure continues with the Bubbles dog.

Bubbles' First Day

Bubbles' first day at her new home went well overall. She wined about 3 different times last night, lasting maybe 15 minutes each or so.  At some times, she howled like a wolf.  It was a bit amusing.  But she stayed by herself in her bed in a playpen.  At least until about 6am when put her into bed with us. 

We believe her first encounter with grass was last night before going to bed.  She kind of jumps around on it.  We think it tickles her somewhat since the grass is currently long.  Bubbles likes to chase and chew on leaves.  As the wind blows them, she'll chase them down and chew them.  Wait until she finds sticks.  She also likes doing the "Trixie roll" on the grass, just rolling on her back on the ground.

This morning Bubbles started chewing on my work boots.  A new toy for her I guess.  Her head is so small that she was sticking it into the opening of my left boot.  It was smelly so she had to check it out.

This afternoon she got to meet Grandma Hootie.  The treats will be coming soon!

We'll be going to bed in the next hour and we are guessing tonight will even go smoother.  Wish us luck.

Meet "Bubbles"

Please welcome Bubbles, our 6-week old Old English Sheepdog. We just picked her up today in Bloomington. Since Trixie's passing in March 2007, we knew we always wanted another dog someday. And today was the day.

Earlier this summer, Beth began training "Elliot," an Old English Sheepdog owned by Colleen Callahan's daughter Brittany. Brittany since moved to Chicago and that was part of the reason for training Elliot here. He would then later move to Chicago. But I guess that is not happening. We hoped we could somehow "kidnap" Elliot and he'd live with us happily ever after. Instead, Elliot is going to be staying on the farm, running with the other dogs. But having Elliot come and stay with us for a few afternoons and Beth working with him so often got her wanting a dog really bad.

We had been talking about getting 2 dogs so that they would have a companion, with one of the dogs being an Old English Sheepdog. The other we often figured a Golden Retriever, but if we go down that road, I'm thinking we might rescue a puppy somewhere.

So in the last few days, Beth had learned about a woman who was raising Old English Sheepdogs. There was a web site set up with pictures of irresistible sheepdog pups. I believe we came home a day early from South Carolina so that we could get a puppy.

Bubbles is now at her new home sleeping very quietly. She's wined a little bit but not a lot. Even though, we don't expect a full night's sleep.

It was a tough decision to pick one out of the 9 in the litter. We got it down to about 2-3, but finally settled on London, as she was earlier known, because she didn't seem as rambunctious as the others.

I'm sure all of you will see much more of Bubbles in the days to come.