Unknown Jobs

First, I'd like to thank Uncle Perry for his great literary work "Remembering Ralph". The tribute was touching and for me, not being "home" a lot during Grandpa's last days, it brings a sense of peace being able to read how things were at the end. The recorded history will be passed on to future generatations as well. Again thank you for taking the time to record this for our family.

As for the reason for the post, I was suprised as I read "Remembering Ralph" of the different jobs that both Grandpa and Perry had held in their careers. The only job I remember Perry having was the office supply store in Pontiac. I guess I never thought about it, but other than the partnership in the home town elevator, I didn't realize his involvements with Continental Grain or others. So that got me thinking, what are some of the other jobs members of the Klopfenstein Family have done. I only remember Jerry as Superintendant, and then teacher in retirement, but I'm sure there were other jobs, I remember Cleve as a teacher, but I know there was a commodities history before that. For me, I have worked in the food industry making powdered sugar and cereal, bagged groceries at Food World, pumped gas at Amaco, built apartments in Athens, AL, laid sod, built seats and now explain (and try to prevent) why we produce and ship bad car parts.

So let's hear it, what are some of the "jobs" you have had in your life, either big or small. EDK

SYRUP OR SUGAR

We had french toast for breakfast this morning. I was taught by Mother to sprinkle sugar on French toast and assume my siblings learned to eat it with sugar also. Jerry, however learned to eat it with syrup. I'm wondering how far down the Klop line the "sugar thing" has trickled. What do you use? Sugar or Syrup?

Sarah Palin, 4 months postpartum

I've been reading about Sarah Palin, McCain's pick for VP. I guess since she is basically an unknown with little experience, the media vultures have not come up with a whole lot on her yet. I read an article in the Pantagraph this morning and was surprised to find in the last sentence of the last paragraph (almost as an "Oh, by the way . . . "), she had a baby in April, her 5th child. Not only that, but the baby has Down Syndrome. I suspect in her deck of cards, this child will be the pro-life card. Yes, it's wonderful that at age 44, and knowing her baby would be special-needs, she kept the child. But it does bother me - as VP of the United States, and a heartbeat away from the presidency, can she possibly give this child the mother's attention that one would get from a "normal" mother? She has been quoted, "I won't shirk my duties." Does she mean her duties as VP or her duties as mommy of a new special-needs baby? I know it's a different world today for families than it was when I raised my kids, but I feel in this situation, someone is going to lose, and I think it will be the baby. Yes, he will get the "best" care, but I feel the "best" care is plentiful time and attention from Mom. Okay, nuff said.

Love to all,
Cathy

DANCING WITH THE CRICKETS

Last night I went into the garage to get something out of the fridge. I turned on the light. The combination of the sudden light and my presence frightened a large cricket between me and the fridge. I believe the little dance we both did to avoid each other as I walked barefoot across the floor would've made a video worthy of "Utube". Might have even been a better show than "Dancing with the Stars"! I made it back in the house safely but with another case of the "willies" and goosebumps. Also the snack (popsicle) I got from the fridge was worth it!

Post deleted

In the spirit of family unity, and as the primary administrator of this blog, I have taken the liberty of deleting the previous post. Though the intent seemed to be innocuous - simply the addition of another puzzle to challenge the readers - the direction of the comments made it clear that the website involved caused offense. The prudent action, in my opinion, is to delete the post.

I do not do this lightly. My goal is not to be an authoritarian figure or to be a monitor of individual members' freedom to post as they wish. But this blog has been so enjoyable, and such a good thing to allow far-flung family members the opportunity for interaction and discussion, that we do not want anything to infringe upon that spirit. Thank you to all involved for understanding this action.

p.s. I'll probably delete this post also in a couple of days.

Unusual Question

Carol and I had a rather interesting question posed to us yesterday. We had an annual test, and the lady administering the test asked, "Do you have any great-grandchildren?" Never having had to entertain such a question -- and still nurturing the fading idea that I am still "not very old" -- I kind of paused with a glazed look. Great-grandchildren? My word!! No, I told her, smiling. That was a first for me, the question, that is. But there are worse things than that, I guess. One never knows what a day will bring. I was kind of "beat," as they used to say. I guess I will treasure great-grandchildren as much as our ten grandchildren, and those two still in the oven. Our eldest grandchild is ten years old, so very likely it will be several years until the g-g-children arrive.

Best wishes to all.

Fire Ants

You may remember during the extended discussion about ants and other pests that I mentioned that we usually have fire ants in this part of the country. Due to the drought we haven't had any this summer (there are advantages to a drought, I guess!) but since we got 2.5 inches of rain from the remnants of TS Fay this week, a couple of mounds have appeared in our yard.

Since they don't get all the way to Illinois I thought you might like to see what happens when you knock the top off a fire ant mound. This is an older camera so it's not great, no fancy sound, but you can really see the effects. I used a broom to break off the top of the mound while filming. The immediate swarming is quite a sight, and they are vicious biters. One of the ants got on my foot and I can still feel the sting now, about an hour later. Sorry for the strap shadow!

Another Puzzle

I know Cleve said he didn't want to start a chain of novelties but this one is too fun to pass up. Be careful, it is addicting:

Fantastic Contraption

I've solved all but two levels...

SHOPPING

As you all know, I've been trying not to shop so much lately. Can't resist any longer. I'm going to go buy an orange pant suit today.

Remembering Mother

I enjoyed the comments regarding my Mother by Ann. And I commend you Ann. And Judy's comments intrigued me too. Somehow, I am a little vague in remembering the bookstore visits with Judy, but I remember we were close, and did a lot together. I was 29 in 1968, and single. I was converted on April 11 and baptized on July 21, by George M. Gramm, the elder, not to be confused with George Gramm, my grandfather (father to Anna). At any rate it was a wonderful time. I was living in West Lafayette, Indiana at the time and worked in grain merchandising for Continental Grain Company, and later became manager of that office. I came home a lot of weekends and I, too, enjoyed the hospitality and cooking of Grandma Klopfenstein, and I learned a lot from her.

She once told me, "If you don't like someone, they can tell it." The message? You better develop a liking for everyone.

She also advised me that if problems arise in the church, "You just keep still."

You are all good writers. I wonder if Ann runs the ABWI (Ann Bales Writing Institute); or if Eric K. operates the EKWI (Eric Knocloch Writing Institute). If so, they could merge and call it EK-AB-WI. Enough.

Best to all.

From the Homestead

Triple Threat

Mom mentioned that she and Dad were here this last weekend to see Grace perform in St. Mary of Vernon's production of Joseph. So here's a short clip that highlights Grace singing and dancing. She's in the pink skirt just stage right of the Pharaoh, played by our pastor, Fr. Joe Curtis. (BTW, I'd post photos but I only have a video camera - Grace and Michelle won't let me use their cameras ;-)

More Memories...

When I was thinking of my high school weekends, I remember going to Grandma K's and also Uncle Perry coming to visit me in LaGrange. Do you remember that Perry? One of our favorite activities was going to a little Christian bookstore run by a little old lady, as I remember it. She loved to have us come in. Do you remember the store? Or the name of it? Or whatever else we did on those weekends? Did you stay at our house on Spring Avenue? I mostly just remember the bookstore. I was baptized in 1969, when a junior in high school, and those days of relishing the weekends don't seem like they can possibly be almost 40 years ago.

An Embarrassing Moment

Recently Cleve mentioned about Aunt Ada teaching about computers. In the early 90s I was teaching computer applications at PCS and was working with Larry, the IBM salesperson, to put in a new computer lab. There were many calls back and forth for several months between Larry and me. After one very long Monday I called Larry to get the price of another piece of equipment and got his voice mail since he was on vacation all week. My mind kind of went on autopilot as I was so tired and my message went something like this:

"Larry, I know you're on vacation all week, but I need to know if we used (some kind I don't remember cords) what the cost difference would be over (another kind of cord I don't remember). You can just let me know when you get back in the office next week. I think that's all I need for now so in Jesus name we pray Ame" and then I panicked and slammed down the phone.

All week I had to wait knowing the Larry would return from vacation to get the message which I could not delete and re-record. Finally the next Monday came and I get an intercom message that I had a phone call from Larry. I still remember walking to the faculty lounge wondering how I could explain my blunder. After I got the information I needed from him I said, "Umm, Larry, about my message" and he just laughed and laughed. He said it was the most unusual voice mail he'd ever received and that nobody had ever talked to him as if he was God!

I told a few people I realized I'd been ending my prayers with "OK, talk to you later. Bye."

Family Visit

Eric gave a good rundown of our weekend trip. It's a lot of miles on the road, as they well know, as they make it home way more often than we make it down there! A highlight of the trip was seeing Eric's new office and plant. The other picture is Amber so glad to be home after 3 weeks in Illinois.

Note to Uncle Lynn and Aunt Mim: Every previous trip Dave has said, "Want to stop at Uncle Lynn's?" I've always said, "No, we have to get home!" This time I suggested stopping and Dave nixed it as he thought it would get too late getting home. We'll have to plan it into our next trip to make sure it actually happens!

Down on the Farm

For the last two Summers, Grace and Owen have volunteered on a nearby organic farm. They are responsible for feeding the chickens and cleaning nests as well as collecting, cleaning, and packaging the eggs for sale. Here's a video of a typical morning at the farm:

A relaxing weekend

I'm sure mom will post more on their trip to the south, but we had a great time. Mom, Dad and Amber drove down on Friday and we went Friday night and celebrated Christian's 12th birthday at O'Charlies over a great bowl of cheddar potato soup. We all came home and relaxed while watching the olympics. Saturday morning, Retta made everybody pancakes and then the girls w/Chris went shopping. Dad and I took a nap, watched a tractor pull on RFDtv, and caught up on what's going on in life. In the evening we all watched a replay of the Obama/Biden speaches and then some more olympics. This morning was church, out to lunch and then Mom and Dad hit the road home. They are probably somewhere north of Nashville as I type this. I know it was a lot of driving for them, and the primary goal was to deliver Amber back home to us. She spent the past 3 weeks in Illinois being shared between the grandparents, aunts and uncles. Thanks to those who spent time with her. Even with that purpose, the 1 1/2 days we had together was really fun, relaxing and a good time of catching up.

On another note, it's been raining for a couple days, heavy at times, although nothing like along the coast. The dog came in this morning with his underbelly covered in red mud. He got to dry off in the garage, a treat he really enjoyed....NOT. This afternoon there have been several tornado warnings, although none real close to us. The one north of us was probably closer to Lynn's than us.

Ann, did you get any rain out of the storm, or did it all come south and west of you?
EDK

Update: Apparently James Spann (local Birmingham weather hero, known for naming every resturant/convenient store within a mile of wherever the tornado is located) reported on ABC 33/40 that a tornado was in Brookwood AL which is only 25 miles from us. Guess it was while I was "watching TV" aka sleeping.

FUN WEEKEND

We had an enjoyable weekend. We went to Shipshewanna IN on Thursday where we stayed overnight at a Bed and Breakfast. I'll just say it was "an interesting experience" - and one we will probably not try again. We went to a gospel concert Thurs. eve by the group Greater Vision - I'm sure some of you have heard and/or seen them. It was excellent and very enjoyable and inspiring. We also had a delicious Amish dinner before the concert. Did a little shop-browsing before heading to Vernon Hills on Friday.

Grace was a dancer/singer in the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". She did a great job - I don't think she missed a step! - and has quite a stage personna. She had 6 (or maybe 8) costume changes and she said the quickest change had to be made in 45 seconds! The production was presented by their church and was quite a production with people of all ages participating. So it was a good weekend but always good to be home again.

Ada

I'll be Barack

Kelsie and I went to Springfield today for the Obama/Biden rally. We waited in line for about an hour, quickly made it through the Secret Service screening, and then waited in a mob of sweaty people for another hour. It was impressive to hear 20,000 people recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and then the complete silence during a prayer. Obama talked first, and then Biden came out. They talked for about 30-40 minutes total, and all the while Kelsie and I wormed our way closer and closer. By the end, we had gotten pretty close, maybe within 20-30 yards. While we only caught glimpses of them through a bush (it doesn't help that we are so short!), it was worth the trip and the heat. The pic attached is from when we were further back -- if you look closely, you can see Obama. Particularly if they win, this will go down as a day to remember for years to come.

Are you ready for some football?

That time of year has certainly come quickly to our house. We have been working hard at practice since July 28th. This year Noah was the only one who decided to participate (in addition to Jason coaching his team). The hard work paid off in the second pre-season game Friday night. Our team was able to beat the Streamwood Falcons 25-0. You can see by the video that we get to play on a beautiful field that was recently installed by the Downers Grove Park District.

Noah is #30 and one perk of the being the coach's son is you get to play quarterback. I have attached two plays below - an extra-point after one of our touchdowns, and the other is our longest pass to date to his friend Connor. [The color commentary is provided by Zac - who also films the games.]

The real season starts next weekend - so back to practice this week to ensure we are ready.

Amazing trick

I don't want to start of chain of novelties on the blog but thought that with many of our members being very good with numbers -- U. Jerry, Drake, Jason, Aaron, etc., I am posting an unbelievable mind-reading game. I would like math teacher Jerry, or anyone else, to try to explain how it works.

1) Go to the link below. After reading each window, click on the
boy in the lower right corner of the picture.

2) In the last window type in your answer in the white box using
the Keyboard (there is NO cursor).

3) Watch the paper in the boy's hand. You will be amazed. And
no, I don't know how it's done. Cleve
Go to:

http://digicc.com/fido/

A Memory of Grandma

Okay, this one's going to be long, so either dig in or scroll past!

Tonight I graded a paragraph written by a senior English student in which she wrote extensively of her good relationship with her grandmother. At the bottom I wrote, "You will never regret the time you spend with your grandmother and will always treasure those memories." Which of course got me thinking. . .

I remember very well the year I was 19 and at ISU, and spent most weekends with Grandma K. in her "new" home in Gridley. At the end of the day on Friday, Cathy and I would pack up and head that way, then return to our apartment (607 Hillview, I still remember) on Sunday night or Monday morning. (Thank you again, Cathy, for all those rides!) At the beginning of the year I was a little hesitant, wondering if Grandma would really want company every weekend, but she quickly made it clear that she enjoyed having me come. If there were any remaining doubts, they were squelched the time that I made plans to visit Uncle Chuck Hemmer's family in Peoria one weekend and she said, with even a slight hint of petulance in her voice, "Well I don't know why you'd want to spend a whole weekend in Peoria when you could come here instead!" (Can't you just hear the tone she used?!!)

If there weren't any "young group" activities, she and I would spend the evenings in her den; she would sit in her brown rocker and cross-stitch or tat or work find-a-word puzzles, and we would watch "Lawrence Welk" and other TV programs on Saturday nights. She'd talk about her activities with her friends that week, and I'd tell her about the events at school. Some nights she'd cook a simple meal - I especially remember her cube steak, potatoes, applesauce, and apple pie - or we'd go up to the blacktop and eat at that restaurant that I can't remember the name right now.

That was the year that she had severe problems with hives that would strike various places on her face, neck, and throat, even going to Mayo Clinic to get a diagnosis, and she was afraid about her throat closing up. I remember thinking that it may have been a comfort to her to have someone actually spending the night at her house two or three nights a week, and that thought brought me joy, that I could help her in that way.

During the Thanksgiving holiday I got sick with strep throat and was miserable--it was so bad I couldn't swallow. I remember on Friday of that week she took me to Dr. Helm's office; he diagnosed me and put a little stack of antibiotic tablets in an envelope. She took wonderful care of me that entire weekend.

Perry's or Ada's would stop by after church on Sundays a lot. Angela, Drake, and Jason were elementary-school ages, and Elizabeth and Charity were toddlers.

I remember that Grandma made me feel so special that entire year. You all know the way that she had. One time it hit me that, as nice as she made me feel because I got to stay with her for so many months, she had other ways of making all of her grandchildren feel like they were special. That's why we all have such good memories of her.

Thank you for letting me ramble for awhile tonight!

Worth the moment of reading!

From DAYS OF PRAISE

August 21, 2008

Pride Goes Before Destruction
by Henry Morris, Ph.D.
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)
This is the middle verse of the entire book of Proverbs, and, in view of the obviously structured original verse divisions throughout the book, it may well have been divinely designed as such. In any case, the sin of pride is so deadly, it is appropriate that a solemn warning concerning it should be placed here right at the heart of God's book of true wisdom.

The sin of pride was the primeval sin of Satan: "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness" (Ezekiel 28:17). It was the sin by which Satan led Adam and Eve to fall. "Ye shall be as gods" (Genesis 3:5), he had said. It is always the "easily besetting" sin of Christian leaders, especially those who have assumed such leadership prematurely. "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil" (1 Timothy 3:6). Even Jesus was 30 years old before He began to teach.

Though pride is not named as such in the Ten Commandments, in reality it is implied in the very first one. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). The essence of all false religion is evolutionary humanism--worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator (Romans 1:25). Pride and unbelief are two sides of the same coin. When men and women refuse the word of their Creator, it is fundamentally because they want to be their own "gods," as did Adam and Eve.

Human pride is the hidden root of humanism, and of evolutionism, and of "every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:5). It is the very essence of the sin nature which we have inherited from our first parents. How carefully we need to guard against this secret sin of pride. If we do not, it will inevitably lead to humiliation and defeat. HMM

Institute for Creation Research

Dallas, Texas

www.ICR.org

My Soapbox

Okay, many of you already know this about me, but we've been boycotting McDonalds for a few months now. You can look at the link below to see why.
http://www.boycottmcdonalds.com/
Please understand that by participating in this boycott, I am in NO WAY saying that McDonalds should not hire or serve certain people for ANY reason! However, it has upset me how many Christians don't seem to be bothered by the fact that when they eat their, a portion of their money is being used in this way. So maybe you all can help me understand why... Any opinions?

Old pic from the Homestead

It's time for another old picture -- this one from March of 1957. Can you guess the occasion, with Aunt Alice holding a fancy hat and with Uncle Perry wearing a corsage (or, on a man would it be called a boutonniere?)? Notice the admiring, loving glance that Grandma K is giving her husband. It's always good to see pictures of them because we need to remember that without them NONE of us would even be a thought in anyone's brain. Remember that you can enlarge pictures by clicking on them.
Cleve

All In A Day's Work

On Tuesday morning I was sitting in McDonalds enjoying some coffee and reading. I noticed an elderly man walking slowly across the parking lot into the restaurant. I returned to my reading. Shortly, he came to my table and commended me for being "dressed up," as I had on a white shirt, tie and slacks. He said it's terrible how people dress so sloppy today. His positive comment made me feel good, of course. I told him my father taught me to dress up, especially for business. He even sat down briefly. He was 78, and "went under" (financially) raising cattle in Oklahoma. Then he told me that Starbucks, all over, are closing down. Quite a talker. He didn't have much use for physicians either. He finally left. I then went out to my vehicle. I was so flattered by his compliment that I almost got into the wrong van. Mine was three parking spaces away. Hoping no one saw me I hurried to my van and got in.

In an unrelated matter, a woman came into our store in late afternoon. She had a deep, man's voice. When she left the store, I asked Carol and Heather (a clerk) if they would rather be a woman with a man's voice, or a man with a woman's voice.

Now, I propose that question to the multi-state EJK Blog members, and will await your answers. Webmaster Cleve can do the tallying, and report as he is able.

What do you think?

Two friends (Alabamians lest you wonder who) regularly send me forwards of this nature: "send this to ten friends in the next ten minutes to receive ten blessings or curses if you don't forward." Well, that is a bit exaggerated and a bit misquoted, but my policy for this is to never forward such communications.
I find some good in them, but most of them are overly sentimental and a waste of time. Mary would say this is part of my German stoicism.
Recently I got on a Snopes.com regular e-mail site to make me more aware of the erroneous messages that permeate the air waves. My daughters will appreciate that as too often I let them decipher the false from the true. And, by the way, we are still indebted to Drake for alerting us several years ago to be cautious on these forwards.
This weekend a communication arrived from one of the above two friends about Kay Arthur prognosticating a famine. Well, also this weekend Snope came through saying that that pronouncement is partly false. But Kay was vindicated as she did not claim the special revelation that was attributed to her. I am always wary of special revelations from God!
Sharing thoughts for whatever they might be worth if anything. Mim

Nacreous

FROM: GoodSearch on the Internet--
Nacreous clouds or mother-of-pearl clouds are difficult to document properly. Very often there is a dazzling brightness close to horizon while only a few degrees higher the sky is quite dark with clouds showing pastell colours. Capturing the bright part and the colours into same exposure is always a compromise. Nacreous cloud pastell colours are a bit like those in iridescence, but if sun is close to horizon or below it, then one is observing nacreous clouds. (Iridescence will be either gone or has turned into red and is indistinguishable from ordinary twillight clouds.) On my observing site I rarely see great nacreous clouds. Rather, they are peculiar twillight colours and long lasting red twillight well after cirrus clouds have turned black. Typical view at sunset is in he00652: milky and "soft", whitish veil. This stuff becomes visible only at sunset (or rise); it can be seen only about an hour prior to sunset (or after sunrise). Later this turns into red "twillight looking" cloud like in he01053 with an extremely brigh part close to horizon.

The Gridley Geek

This is stupendous. There is a geek in Gridley. Usually geeks live in cities where they can advise the stymied computerites. But a geek in a faraway, backwoods village? Alas, I found one, who works free of charge, and who apparently works 24/7, and comes in a flash.

The geek in this case still has not named her company. But I am. It's the Geekada Company. The pres. and chief-geek is Ada Kay.

Again, another historic day, and quite a discovery.

Very best wishes,

Perry

He's a good old dad

Just about every day, as a way to tease to Jerry, I say about him, "He's a good old dad." He's really proved the words true now....

We wanted to go boating, but he had to work. He said we could go without him, but I can't back up the truck and trailer. So we convinced him to follow us to the lake, help us put the boat in the water, go to work, and then come back after work to pick us up. Can you believe he agreed to such a thing?

So we loaded everyone up -- all 4 kids, life jackets, coolers of sandwiches and pop, towels, and on and on. Once there, we all got in the boat and unhooked all the stuff that holds the boat on the trailer. As the truck went down the ramp and the boat eased into the water, I reached for the key so I could lower the motor and start it. I was horrified to see that the key was already turned a notch to the right, and had likely been so since we boated last weekend.

Yep, the battery was dead. Too dead to be jumped. So we put everything back together and came back home. Then he went to work, and we swam in our 1-foot pool in the backyard. I'll probably never ask him to do that for me again. He's a good old dad.

Roosters--et al!

This blog takes some unusual turns; however, the latest rooster stuff is just about as humorous as anything can get. Here it is--5:10 AM Sunday morning and I'm reading all this about chicken manure and coyotes. The EJK Blog has injected a renewed family spirit into life, what with verbage from across the midwest and southern confines.

In addition--If brother Perry wants a challenge, we should get out our dictionaries and produce some choice words for him. Bill O'Reilly usually ends his broadcast with an unusual word. So, Perry (or Bill) here we come!!!