We are officially back from our week-long vacation to Yellowstone. We had some good times. We left last Sunday and drove to Lava Hot Springs where we spent 2 nights. Sunday night we went to the hot pools with the kids. They thought it was pretty neat. Monday we spent at the pool. Emma wanted to go down the waterslide, but got nervous at the top. Mom had to give her a little nudge (Okay, so I practically picked her up and threw her down), but luckily she loved it once she reached the bottom. She spent the rest of the day going up the stairs, down the slide, up the stairs, down the slide, up the stairs....Well, you get it.
Tuesday morning we left for Jackson Hole. We stopped just long enough to get fuel (3.00 a gallon, ouch), and continued on to Yellowstone and Fishing Bridge RV park. We stayed there for Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and Thursday night. We were able to see all sorts of wildlife including a Black Bear! The only thing we didn't get to see was a Moose. Too bad. Lots of buffalo, which Maggie calls "Moos". Everything with fur is a Moo to her.
So Friday morning we headed out of the park to Logan. We drove through Preston, which was a treat. Never been there, don't think I'll be going back any time soon. We stayed at the Ramada Inn's RV park in Logan for Friday night and Saturday night. Sean rode his bike 60 miles on Saturday with my sister Meg, and her boy/friend. Notice the slash. We mostly hung out on Saturday evening, and I finished 2 books. Mindy, I know you're proud.
So Sunday morning we headed out to get home. Unfortunately, I woke up with a horrible cold, and slept most of the way home. But we made it home, and it was a relief. Needless to say, I'm still doing laundry, and will be all week. So that was our last hurrah for the summer. Back to work.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Monday, August 15, 2005
Grabbing "Tiger" by the tail...
This is for Mom, Sean and Bryan:
I just ordered Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) Family 5-pack from Amazon a few minutes ago. It should be here before the week is out.
As soon as I get it, I will install it and make a back-up of the software for myself and then ship the originals to Mom and you can guys can help her install it and then get on your own machines. It's very simple and should be quick and painless.
Due to a discount I had from Burger King (that Fantastic Four promo-card) I could save a $1 on it... WAHOO! So it only came to $178.99... so that's $44.75 for each of us.
If you could send me a check ASAP, I'll get that charge off my card.
I have a colleague here in S.A. that might want the 5th license and in the event that she wants it, I will send y'all $9.00 (she split the last one - Panther - with us).
Anyways, sorry we didn't get it done while in SLC... but better late than never.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Things are cool once more...
... and my pocket book is a little lighter because of it.
We had a tech come out and take a look at the AC Condenser unit outside and he ran some tests and found out that the compressor was grounded and therefore was not working. He said we could replace the compressor for a $1000 and a 1-year warranty or change out the unit for $3000 and get a 5-year warranty.
While looking around the unit upstairs, I found the name of the company that originally installed the outside unit in March 2000 (which meant that we were 5 months outside of that units warranty).
So we called the original installers and they said that they would come lout in the morning and give us a second opinion for free.
Well, they came out this morning and said the same thing, but could install the new unit (a Goodman 13 SEER unit, which is more cost effective than the Trane 10 SEER unit we had) for $2700 (that had a 10-year warranty) and could do it today. So we agreed (actually Mindy really wanted it being preggo and sick and all) and by 1 PM today we had cool air blowing into the house.
The weird part is that the unit outside was 5 years old, but the blower inside is the original from 1984 (when the house was built)... therefore 21 years old.
I mentioned to the guy that I was a web designer and was wondering if he'd barter a site and a maintenance agreement for a $2500 blower unit upstairs. He said to call him in October and talk about it then since work tends to slow down in the Fall. It would be great if he could that, then I wouldn't have to worry about coming up with the $$$ to fix that.
A great thing is, in the research I was doing, I found out that our local utility company (CPS) has a rebate program for people in the county who upgrade their A/C units. For 13 SEER units, its $80 a ton and since we have a 4-ton unit, we will hopefully get $320 in credit on our power bill, which would be nice. But the site said that funds were low and they would process them in the order received until funds run out. No harm, no foul. We'll try it.
So like I said before, things are cool... but we are poor once more.
We had a tech come out and take a look at the AC Condenser unit outside and he ran some tests and found out that the compressor was grounded and therefore was not working. He said we could replace the compressor for a $1000 and a 1-year warranty or change out the unit for $3000 and get a 5-year warranty.
While looking around the unit upstairs, I found the name of the company that originally installed the outside unit in March 2000 (which meant that we were 5 months outside of that units warranty).
So we called the original installers and they said that they would come lout in the morning and give us a second opinion for free.
Well, they came out this morning and said the same thing, but could install the new unit (a Goodman 13 SEER unit, which is more cost effective than the Trane 10 SEER unit we had) for $2700 (that had a 10-year warranty) and could do it today. So we agreed (actually Mindy really wanted it being preggo and sick and all) and by 1 PM today we had cool air blowing into the house.
The weird part is that the unit outside was 5 years old, but the blower inside is the original from 1984 (when the house was built)... therefore 21 years old.
I mentioned to the guy that I was a web designer and was wondering if he'd barter a site and a maintenance agreement for a $2500 blower unit upstairs. He said to call him in October and talk about it then since work tends to slow down in the Fall. It would be great if he could that, then I wouldn't have to worry about coming up with the $$$ to fix that.
A great thing is, in the research I was doing, I found out that our local utility company (CPS) has a rebate program for people in the county who upgrade their A/C units. For 13 SEER units, its $80 a ton and since we have a 4-ton unit, we will hopefully get $320 in credit on our power bill, which would be nice. But the site said that funds were low and they would process them in the order received until funds run out. No harm, no foul. We'll try it.
So like I said before, things are cool... but we are poor once more.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
We're home...
Well, we are finally home. We had a great time with everyone in UT, but it is nice to be home. Luckily for us it was cooler yesterday and is still overcast, so the house is not too hot. Mike has to be on campus all day today, but he is supposed to be calling AC repairmen in between meetings. Hopefully, we can get one out here SOON!!!
Aaron and Aimee get to meet their teachers tonight. They got a postcard from the school, so Aaron knows who his teacher is and is very excited, but Aimee's was from "the kinder team" so we're still not sure who she has. As we drove by the school on our way home yesterday, Aaron said, "hey Aimee, there's our school." That sounded a little strange to our ears, but very nice too!
Well, off to cleaning up the house while it is still cool.
(Edit to add: Aimee's teacher is Miss White and she seems to be really nice.)
Aaron and Aimee get to meet their teachers tonight. They got a postcard from the school, so Aaron knows who his teacher is and is very excited, but Aimee's was from "the kinder team" so we're still not sure who she has. As we drove by the school on our way home yesterday, Aaron said, "hey Aimee, there's our school." That sounded a little strange to our ears, but very nice too!
Well, off to cleaning up the house while it is still cool.
(Edit to add: Aimee's teacher is Miss White and she seems to be really nice.)
Monday, August 01, 2005
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