A busy weekend!

Our weekend got an early start when the power went out at my work. Without electrical power, I am useless. No power? Friday afternoon in the summer? Time to hit the bricks.

We had a mini-party going on at our house when I arrived home. Several of Mrs. Poolman’s friends had the afternoon free and decided to start the weekend part early by floating in our pool and working out with some weight lifting — 12-ounce curls in sets of six. Fortunately, one of the “girls” was able to walk home, and one of the others brought her daughter as the DD.

You know what they say, “no pain, no gain.” Neither  pain nor gain were present here Friday afternoon.

On Saturday, we cleaned up around the house and yard and took care of some errands, like a run to the recycling center (See paragraph above.)

I read at 5:30 mass on Saturday evening and that was a busy experience We had a visiting priest who wasn’t totally up to speed on the local protocol. Also, my reading partner was brand new – a recent graduate of the 8^th grade who needed a little guidance and support. Really, just a little. She did great. I also had two additional readings thrown my way, without any time to prepare. It was a busy time.

That evening, we went to see “Midnight in Paris,” the Woody Allen movie starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams. Ever since my trip to Europe earlier this spring, I have been intrigued (Mrs. Poolman would say “obsessed.”) with anything having to do with Paris. So I really wanted to see this movie, even though it was playing in just one theater, all the way across town.

I enjoyed the movie a lot. Mrs. P and our friends enjoyed it also, just not as much as I did. It makes abundant use of the Paris scenery. Mrs. P became a little annoyed because I kept poking her in the arm and saying “There is another place I was!”

Even without the scene-spotting, it is a good movie. Owen Wilson does a great job portraying a very likeable character. You can see the plot synopsis here.

Today is Poolboy’s birthday, but yesterday was his “beach day.” We headed out to Tybee with Writer Princess around 11 am, early enough to get a parking spot. The rest of our group didn’t show up for several hours. It was actually about the time I was starting to feel like toast. We stuck it out a couple more hours and had a good time. One of Poolboy’s old friends is married and has two small children – a girl who is almost one and a four-year old boy. We had a fun-time playing with the kids.

The little girl did enjoy eating sand, however.

"That sand is salty. Yum, yum!"

We have had no reports on the status of diaper changes later in the evening.

They all should be over here shortly. We are taking them out to dinner for the b-day. Should be fun.

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Hug a tree, please!

A couple of thoughts on the back side of a holiday weekend…

I consider myself a moderate environmentalist. We drive fuel efficient cars and recycle at our house. Sometimes I wonder what it is that the leaders of the environmental movement want to see. We hear a lot about renewable energy like solar and wind power. However, when someone proposes such a project, another (or the same?) group of environmentalists protests against that. Here is an example of a protest against the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound. What exactly does it take to satisfy you? Or is that even possible short of regressing to the middle ages?

And speaking of protests, you may have heard about the recent “Hands Across the Sand” demonstration to protest off shore oil drilling that was held on Tybee Island here in the Savannah area,

Courtesy Savannah Morning News

and at other locations around the country. I’m not sure what these people were hoping to accomplish aside from giving themselves a warm feeling inside.

I try not to be too cynical, but I do wonder about the people who made up that crowd.

All who walked, bicycled or kayaked to the protest, take one step forward and receive your applause..

All who drove in your automobile, take one step back and hang your head.

And who drove your super-sized SUV or good-ole-boy pick’em up truck, just shut the heck up!

And a final thought — in the late 19^th century the proliferation of horse manure was a major environmental and health problem in most cities. What would our environment look like today if horses were still our primary means of transportation?

With that pleasant thought we start a short work week. Have fun, folks!

A great visit

We had a great visit with some family this week. Of all the relatives on my side of the Poolman family, we are really only in regular touch with my father’s two siblings and their families. The sister, “C”, lives in Pittsburgh. She and Uncle J have five children, just like my parents. Since childhood, my siblings and I have probably been closer to that family than any other relatives. Dad’s brother, “D,” and his family live in Atlanta, and in recent adulthood, the Savannah branch (Poolman) have grown closer to them. However for most of our childhood they were geographically distant.

For Aunt C and Uncle J, Hilton Head Island is their regular vacation spot. They usually come down for a week or two in the summer and a couple of weeks in the winter. We are very flattered that they always want to visit with us as part of their vacation. We have had some great visits both in Savannah and on Hilton Head over the years.

This year, they wanted to come to Savannah along with their friends and vacation buddies, Tom and Jerri. I took a half-day off work Monday and Mrs. Poolman cleaned and cooked in prep for their visit. We took them out to Tybee Island and then returned tour house for extensive visiting and dinner. Poolboy and his GF joined us, as did Writer Princess and Son-in-Law.

It was a great time had by all. They are a lively, funny and rambunctious group. Uncle J is a great story teller. Aunt C is so admired, that it’s a bit of a family joke; for Mrs. Poolman and other females of the family,  Aunt C is the person they want to be “when they grow up.” Tom and Jerri fit the same mold. Not a dull moment. I hope I’m still as much a social-party animal when I’m at or approaching 80.

Uncle J did tell one story that made me wonder “What the heck is going on here?” Like most of the northeast, the Pittsburgh has been hit with massive snowfalls this winter. The weekend before Christmas (actually when I was up there visiting), Jack fell and dislocated a finger while out shoveling snow.

So I asked him this week, “What in heavens name, is a guy who is nearly 80 years old doing out shoveling his driveway? Can’t you hire a neighborhood kid to do that?”

The answer – “No!”

They live in an upscale suburban neighborhood. Apparently there are plenty of teen aged kids around, but none of them have any desire to get out and earn some extra money by doing a little manual labor. Their parents provide them with so much spending money, they have no need to get out and work up a sweat.

I’m sure Uncle J would be more than happy to pay a kid $20-30 (or whatever the going rate would be) to shovel/blow his driveway and walk  — maybe an hour’s work or less. Multiply that by a few more customers, and a teen could pocket $100-150 for a few hours work. “No, thanks. Don’t need it.” That’s sad.