John, Marsha, Anna, Zach, Sam & Sunny
8/31/05

Happy Birthday Livy!!!

"AMAZING FACT: Louisiana loses about 30 square miles of land each year to coastal erosion, hurricanes, and a thing called subsidence (or sinking). Much of New Orleans actually sits below sea level. Parts of the French Quarter have sunk about 2 feet since 1950. Experts agree that storm tides from a direct hit by a major hurricane would swamp much of the city. Combining the effects of erosion, subsidence, and possible hurricanes, the U.S. Geological Survey says New Orleans will likely be on the verge of extinction within a hundred years."

I hadn't heard that about New Orleans. That's so sad. I really hope the city can survive. I was in New Orleans 5 years ago almost to the day. I was thinking about that when they were evacuating and all the tourists had to go the Superdome because the airports had been shut down. What a horrible way to spend a vacation. The people there are so kind and friendly. One day while I was there, a bus driver saw my friends and me walking just on the edge of French Quarter, he made a u-turn, pulled up beside us and asked where we were headed. We told him we just had a few blocks to go, he looks at his watch and says 'boy I just can't take you there. I've got a tour waiting for me.' Then he flags down a cab and tells the driver to take us where we were headed. He said we were just on the edge of the bad side of town and wanted to make sure we stayed safe. It was broad daylight, plenty of people around and we only had to walk a few blocks. There were a bunch of encounters like that -- really friendly people going out of their way to make sure we had a nice vacation. I spent most of my time in the French Quarter and it's sad to think it may be destroyed. I just did a google earth search of the city. I wish I could remember the address of the place I stayed at. I think it was by the Louis Armstrong Park. But that may not be the right name because I couldn't find it. I'd also like to see the cemetary but I can't remember the name of it either. I wish the pictures on google earth were current. It's hard to imagine a city under water.

Shifting gears a little, here's an interesting article on Ohio coach Frank Solich.

Yeah, today's picture was used once before, during "Dogs and Cats" Week or something several months ago, but it was used in conjunction with several other photos, not featured by itself like it is today. It's a great photo! So I figured one more time wouldn't hurt.

As to HP, I'm not sure that it's technically possible for someone who hasn't read the book(!) to spoil the ending, because... how would I know? I was just saying what I heard, and also I thought that Lindsey had already read the book. By the way, has anyone here seen "The Sixth Sense"? Turns out Bruce Willis was dead all along! --Gary

And Lindsey, please note the countdown page: You've got to hand over the Oscar in three days. :-)

Okay, check the reviews page for some new reviews; and a bunch of new pictures from Texas just arrived, so check back in a little while to see them -- I'll get them up as soon as I can.

1. Music/Gym (They alternate every other day)
2. Health
3. Math
4-5. English
LUNCH
6. Social Studies

I haven't gotten my second semester schedule yet, but I think I will start science instead instead of Social Studies and Science is the only one in my pod so right now I don't have classes in my pod. Well talk to you all later. I'll write about my first day of school tomorrow!

1st Semester:
1. World History D
2. Chemisty D
3. Weight Training/Career Ed
4. Teen Issues
5. Advanced Algebra
6. Spanish 2
7. English 10 D

2nd Semester:
1. English 10 D
2. Rec Sports/Health
3. Spanish 2
4. Chemistry D
5. World History D
6. Advanced Algebra
7. Oral Communications

So, pretty fun schedule! I go back Tuesday and then that whole week me and Livy will both get out early the first week.

Yeah, that was one exciting storm! I saw the whole thing from my living room, safely behind glass. Big marble-sized hail, and lots of it: the hail covered the deck outside my back door, and I could watch it knocking off leaves and limbs from the trees. I felt sorry for all the people at the fair today... Wild! --Gary

Oh, BTW...after the game we were leaving and there was a HUGE fireworks show after the game so it was nice to watch while we were waiting to get out of the parking lot. Then we went out to eat at Applebee's, the same one actually that Tristen, Amanda, and me found the $40.

Hope you guys have a fun time on your vacation!

P.S. I also got to see a dog show and they had a lot of them, they even had a Ceaser dog. But there was like a golden retriver, a lab, a spaniel, a dauchsand, and so on. I also loved the welsh corgie, the border collie and the Ceaser dog the best. Talk to you all later!!!!!!

I guess it's an acquired taste! Some of you juicers out there might be seeing the light. --Gary

MMMmmmmmm, wheatgrass..... --Gary

Hey Lincolnites, did last night's storm wake you up? Did me! Went through around 2 am, I think. Lots of lightning (though not much thunder, oddly), and the winds and rain were wild. I looked out my back door and the big tree in the back yard was getting really whipped and twisted around. But the whole thing was over in 15 or 20 minutes.

Great job on the kitty condo, you guys! I especially like the stencil work, and the names. :-) But no cable TV?? No mini-bar??

And hey, we need first-day-of-school reports from everybody!

BTW, I go back on the 30th and Livy goes back the 29th.

Lincoln schools start on Monday, the 29th. Anna, I think is early September, but I don't know for sure (Anna, little help here?). University classes started last Monday. And the first Husker game is only 12 days away... --Gary

Sorry about the mis-attribution! Somehow I read "Emily" and typed "Erika." Anyway, the crawl is now fixed. --Gary

Erika -- "My pants smell like my sandwich"....?????
Livy -- "Don't Waste the Paste, Yo"....?????

Amen to that! I'll take the list down on Labor Day, as an official "End of Summer" thing. :-) --Gary

Livy, Sounds like KC was fun! Holla!

On a side note, Lincolnites: be watching your paper, my university was supposed to send a clip to the Journal Star about my graduation. I have no idea when it will be in there, or where, but keep an eye out. Call me the day it comes out, if possible so I can tell others who may not have seen it. It could be tomorrow, it could be 3 months from now. I read one over the summer that was from March or something.

About my site, thanks; but that's more or less their generic look. I can get in there and modify it if I want, but haven't yet. And yes, I have made two sales -- both to me. :-) --Gary

I know what you want to do can be done. There's a whole subculture of TiVo hackers out there who have modified it in all kinds of ways, the TiVo being essentially just a computer -- but be aware that once you crack the TiVo case, your warranty is void. One of the shows on the TechTV network (now called "G4") used to run features on modifying the TiVo. A quick search turned up this one (though it refers to ReplayTV and not TiVo directly), and there are probably many more in the G4 archives. Good luck, and keep us posted! --Gary

Oh, and last night Ryan hooked up our TiVo to our computer network. What does that mean? Well, we are not sure all the things it can do yet, but the first thing we did was send some pictures from our computer to our big screen, so it played on the TV like a screen saver. Would be nice for like Christmas or something, when lots of people are around & you want something to watch, but you don't want to get into a TV show or movie. Also, you can bring your downnloaded music in MP3 format to your TV & play it through there, which is nice with our surround sound. And today's experiment is this: Whatever shows you have saved on your TiVo can come right to your computer. So you can watch the recorded TV shows on the computer. OK, cool. But we recorded a Kim Possible movie for Tristen on TiVo & we downloaded it onto the computer & now Ryan is going to try to burn it to a DVD. We will let you know how it works!
Grandma, how are you liking your DVR?

Hey, scan Erika's blueprints and send them in. Would be great for the Projects page! :-) --Gary

The markup (profit) is at $1.50 for the stickers, and $2.00 for the other items. I can get it for you wholesale (never thought I'd ever be saying those words), but I would have to pay shipping to me, then shipping to you, so... The stickers are a bit small -- only 5 inches across -- so won't be quite as visible as my magnet, unless someone is really tailgaiting me. But unfortunately that was the maximum size. Anyway, tell your friends! :-) --Gary

Seriously though (as if the foregoing were funny), check out that page. John and Marsha recommended this place to me as a way to get my "impeach Bush" ribbon-magnet out to people. Thanks, you guys! It's a great site. I re-worked the design, applied it to several of their (blank) products, and have actually already done a complete order process just to make sure it works. I ordered two stickers, and received them in less than a week. They don't do actual ribbon-shaped magnets, but they do tons of other things, in addition to the ones I mentioned: buttons, aprons, dog t-shirts(!), greeting cards, postcards, caps, mousepads, throw pillows, teddy bears, you name it. Thank you for your patronage!

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen will be starring in "The Merchant of Venice" -- to be filmed in Las Vegas, in entirely modern costumes and settings. This could be really interesting, especially when compared to the historically faithful recent version starring Al Pacino (which you should rent if you haven't seen it--very good!).

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Donna
8/15/05
Olivia--you went to Kansas City this weekend? What were you doing there? Tell Cher I said hello (lip). Why is she only talking to the Texas group? That's so rude. You can tell her I said that too.

Tristen, good luck on your first day of school tomorrow. I hope you like your new teacher. It seems like this was not the teacher you were hoping for. Please write and tell us all about it.

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Donna
8/15/05
Oh my gosh Erika, thanks for the laugh. I wish we had that on tape. Remember when you were little we had to call snakes ballarina's--we couldn't even say the word snake around you. Why can't you just think of snakes as kitties without fur and paws?

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Erika
8/15/05
Hi everyone today I saw somthing very disterbing at least to me.
I just got done feeding the kittens this morning and was going inside I was in the driveway looked at the patio to see if the kittens were following then I saw it!! A black coil falling from a brick I looked at it hoping that it wasn't that, but when it uncoiled and climbed up the brickes I knew it was; A snake. I ran away but I was wearing sandals they fell of so I had to run back and get them and the snake was gone!!! I still don't know where it is!!!!

Yikes! Erika, you ran away so fast you left your shoes behind...??? :-) --Gary

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Emily
8/15/05
This summer really has gone by fast!! Only 11 more days of vacation until classes offically start for me. Dance and Mayor's Youth Commission activities will be starting up pretty soon too. I guess it will be good to get back into it all, but I could sure go for a few more weeks of break! :)
I was just looking through the Circus site. Looks like a neat program, I'm sure it was fun to see!
Yesterday we all went to Elk Point to go to Edgar's for some delicious ice cream. We got a little turned around driving up so it ended up taking almost an hour and a half to get there (usually it only takes about 20 min.)!!! But, it was worth it, we had been wanting to get there again before we're back in school.
We also got a smoothie maker on Saturday. So Erika and I have been having fun experimenting with that, we've had some intresting combination ideas! I'll bet all of you Juice Stop addicts could have some fun making up your own flavors, maybe you could give Erika some suggestions, beacuse last night she said she wanted to make a smoothie with her left over steak!
Well, I should probably get off now. Erika just came inside from a rather traumatic experience that she wants to tell you all about.
Oh, almost forgot -- Have a super duper first day of 3rd grade tomorrow Tristen!!

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Amanda
8/15/05
Lots of movie watching around here. It has been nice to have the time off. Today I go into the career center to get some guidance on my job search. It has not officially begun yet, but hopefully soon. (I am waiting for my graduation to post to my transcript.) It has rained here nonstop this weekend. We did absolutely nothing yesterday, but watch the two movies & take our computer into Best Buy. The DVD Rom/Burner hasn't worked for a while, so it is in the shop. We have yet to finish laundry, but other than that we are all unpacked. Tristen has been with Kennedy all weekend. She went there Saturday at 1, then came back here at 6:30 with Kennedy & she spent the night here. Then they went back to Kennedy's Sunday at noon & she has been there ever since. I go pick her up this morning after my appointment. Then a few things to do today to get ready for school tomorrow! She is excited. I think once we get this first day over with it will be a breeze.
Marsha-- I remember your posting, maybe the webmaster misplaced it, because I remember reading it. It said something about Anna missing Juice Stop already.
Olivia-- Did you have fun in KC this weekend? I want to hear all about it! And write Hagel anytime, I will send Lindsey the address.

My apologies. Marsha's note of the 11th did get dropped, but it is restored now, below. --Gary

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Gary
8/14/05
It was great having everyone in Lincoln -- really made the summer go by fast. And, as I said below, it really seems quiet around here now. :-)

New recipes and new reviews today!

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Marsha
8/14/05
Hi. I just saw that a letter I wrote last week never made it through! So, thanks to everyone for taking such great care of Anna all summer! She had an awesome time and is ready to come right back. Amanda's party at Lori and Paul's was very nice! John and I went to a Circus on Friday that was amazing... Circus Juventas teaches young people acrobatics, trapeze, etc. and they did a production with a Celtic fairy theme. We thought all the dancers in the family would have loved it and T & t would have been super impressed with the dancing and flying fairies.

Hey Karen -- we brought back the buffet from the basement that Grandma Lipskey gave me. Paul and Ryan kindly loaded it up for me in the van the day before we left. It looks great in the dining room!

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Amanda
8/13/05
We did leave Grandma's at about 4:20. We drove through awful fog for the first two hours, and then rain for the next two hours! We made good time. Much better than when we came in July. We made two stops, one for breakfast & gas at about 8 in Kansas. Another for gas & lunch in Oklahoma. We hit Wichita Falls at 2PM & Tristen & I went to Wal-Mart. We made a quick run through for school supplies & headed home. We helped unpack a little & then her & I got in the shower. We were to the school by 5. Her teacher this year is Mrs. Moore. She has quite a few friends in her class. She is ready to start on Tuesday. Today she is going to Kennedy's at 1 & then they are coming back here to spend the night. Then back to Kennedy's tomorrow & spending the night there Sunday. Back home on Monday to prep for school! We are not unpacked yet, but should be by this afternoon. We have A LOT of laundry to do, so that will consume our weekend. I have an appointment on Monday at the career center & then I will begin my job search. Karen-- if we don't move to North Dakota (which is looking HIGHLY unlikely) we will go back to Nebraska. It will hopefully be in May or June of 2006. But, if I don't find a decent job & we can't make ends meet once Ryan is unemployed in December we will have to go back then. If Ryan turns down the orders to report to ND he will be out of the military sometime in December. Let me tell you, he is loving the idea of being a free man! Oh, when we got back to Iowa Park Ryan rushed out of here to go to the post office before it closed. I asked him what the rush was, he told me he needed to tell them "he was back" and didn't want to waste a week & got lots of crap for it! We miss Juice Stop!!

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Emily
8/12/05
Hey everybody! Well, the doors are finally in!! They were supposed to come at 8 yesterday morning, but didn't show until 1 or 2. Then they were missing some parts and had to come back this morning and finish up for about an hour. But, they are all done now and look really nice. Mom took some before and after pictures and sent them in this afternoon, so you can see them then!
Sounds like Metcalfs had an early start this morning! I'll bet you all enjoy having your own bed tonight!

See the doors (before and after!) on the projects page. I understand the Metcalfs left this morning between 4 and 4:30 am, and got home around 2 pm. I was at Grandma's this evening (helping with the installation of her new Tivo-like DVR--digital video recorder) when Tristen called. They had already unpacked everything, been to a teacher's conference and met Tristen's new teacher, and bought school supplies! Tristen said she and Teghan had slept most of the way home. Grandma's house seemed really quiet today! Even though it had been six weeks, I heard Tristen say last night "It seemed like only one day." :-) --Gary

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Livy
8/12/05
Amanda, what time did you get home today? I bet Tristen will like the third grade. I hope her confrence on Friday will go well. Congrats on your graduation Amanda. Oh, I'll write the letter to Hagal, but when should I send it? Cher says hi to everyone in Texas(lip)!!!!! :)

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Lindsey
8/11/05
Well said our good-byes tonight, sad to see everyone leaving! But had a GREAT summer and did a lot of fun stuff, lots of cool pictures. Congratulations again Amanda on your graduation! I'm already looking forward to seeing everyone again :).

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Marsha
8/11/05
Thanks to everyone for our great time in Lincoln. (Especially for everything you did for Anna Banana!) We had a nice ride home with a good stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, what a lovely town (and they have a Culvers). John, Zach, Sam and Sunny were all glad to see Anna. So, Erika, did Willy the door guy get the doors in? You and Emily were way too good on the game we played with Gary. Mom the buffet looks so good in the dining room. I bought a little bouquet of flowers for it at work today. John has been feeling pretty good. We had a big rain and thunderstorm yesterday -- 4 houses and a man were struck by lightning! I really can't imagine North Dakota in January!!!! I think that is a sign saying NOOOOOOOO! T & t will all of your toys fit in the truck? Linz and Liv, thanks for taking such good care of Anna (she's craving a Juice Stop right now.) Gary, I will get the recipes up soon, I hope. Donna, how about some pictures when you get your rooms finished, are you getting another blue chair?

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Karen
8/11/05
Well the door guys finally showed up -- only 5 1/2 hours late. But they are installing them now and should be done in a few hours. We have been getting lots of rain, pretty nice today, except for the humidity. Amanda, Ryan -- if you don't go to ND what are your plans?? That wouldn't be any farther from Lincoln than Texas is. Marsha, what furniture did you take to MN? Oh, all of you Google Earth fans, I heard on the news today that it's a possible risk to the the soldiers. People are able to see where they are stationed.

Yeah, don't get me started on this Google Earth flap. That's all we need, to get the government involved in it, in the name of "homeland security." These pictures are several years old usually, and available in many other ways, so if a terrorist wants to figure out where a base is... oh, grrrrr, don't get me started!! --Gary

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Gary
8/10/05
I have been asked to make three additions to our recipes page, of dishes that we all enjoyed sometime in the past week. We need Marsha's corn and black bean salad, Marsha's spinach-artichoke dip, and Lori's cowboy beans. If they happen to be secret family recipes, hey, we're all family! Thanks in advance.

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Emily
8/10/05
Glad to hear Marsha and Anna had a good trip home!
Sounds like Metcalfs are still having a blast in Lincoln. It will be pretty quiet around there you all go back home! But, hey if you do move to North Dakota at least you would be closer to everyone than you are in Texas.
I just checked out the reviews, looks like some good ones. I still want to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, maybe while its still in the theaters. And Wedding Crashers looks like a good on to rent when it comes out. I would definitely recommend Spellbound to everyone, it was a good one!
Not too much has been going on around here. We had a "movie day" yesterday, just watched a bunch of old movies we had, but it was fun. Tomorrow we are having the new doors installed. Well, assuming the carpenter guy doesn't wash his hands! :) (for those of you who didn't hear the story, Erika took the message when they called to set up the appointment for the doors, and the guy calling said he would have called sooner, but he wrote the number on his hand and took a bath.)
So we're hoping that goes well!
We're still getting stuff ready for school. Only 2 more weeks of summer vacation left!! This summer has really gone by quickly!!

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Gary
8/10/05
New Photos are up!

And have you read the reviews lately...? Thanks to Lindsey, Emily, Erika, and Amanda who are all recent contributors!

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Donna
8/10/05
Sean, I'm just now reading your newsletter item and the links. That's very impressive. And for those of you that haven't seen the product, I can tell you it's really cool. I would love to have that in my car. Congratulations!

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Donna
8/10/05
Today's picture reminds me--I haven't seen any of the stuff you guys painted. Anna I missed yours, but I want to see the rest of them. They look really nice.
Anna and Marsha, it's so quiet and boring without you here. Marsha, I still love all the changes we made to my dining room and living room. It looks so much better! I plan to cover the dining room chairs and sew kitchen curtains this weekend. That shouldn't take long. Especially since I already have the fabric. ;-)
The graduation party was really nice. That was a fun afternoon. I still can't believe I let Erika beat me at air hockey, though.

I'll be putting up some more pictures today that will include the pottery-painting. Check back later! --Gary

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Anna
8/9/05
Hey everyone! I had such a FUN summer and it's weird to be back and have my room all to myself. Thank you so much everyone for everything this summer! I miss you guys a lot! Today I had my "interview" for Watershed. I think it went well and we are not sure when we will find out when I get in. I am already wanting Juice Stop. I hope that Amanda, Ryan, Tristen and Teghan have fun for the rest of their trip and have a safe ride home. Miss You Guys!

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Amanda
8/9/05
Tonight we were at Sean's & we hooked our laptop up to his fast DSL. I played around with Google Earth, way cool!!! Oh, and Ryan finally got his much awaited orders... Where is his next base you ask? Grand Forks, North Dakota. Probably will never make it there, but if we want to live there we can go by January 30th.

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Amanda
8/9/05
Oh, the Anna picture... I miss you!

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Amanda
8/9/05
OK, now we are leaving Friday morning. But this is final, no changing these plans. Tristen has orientation at her new school Friday at 5. She will meet her new teacher, take in her supplies & buy a lunch ticket. Dinner at grandmas Thursday night, about 6:30! It's the last hurrah!

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Amanda
8/9/05
Well, yesterday we had a lazy morning. Some of us didnt even wake up to see Anna & Marsha off. We were up until 3 the night before playing a wild game of Monopoly. It had to be postponed until the next day! Anyhow, we finished the game, had Chipotle for lunch and took Linz to work at 2:30. Ryan, Teghan & I then headed to Omaha. We went to Oakview for some shopping. Teghan built a "bear." She made a unicorn & named it princess. We hung out at Oakview until about 5:30. Then we drove to Nebraska Furniture Mart where we met Dad, Lori, Linz, Livy, Tristen & Sean. We got a fax machine & looked for a table. Then we went to the new mall, Village Point. The 4 girls went on the ferris wheel at Scheel's. We went to a few other stores, but it was close to closing time. Then we went to Tin Star, a southwestern restaraunt. Our table got cheesesteak fajitas, quesadillas, cheeseburger tacos & a few other good things. It was a nice place. Then we split up & headed home at about 10. Ryan, Teghan & I took the long way home because we wanted to see the expansion in some of our old neighborhoods. Not much planned for today. Ryan went and got his drivers license renewed already this morning. We may play a game of Dogopoly later. Tristen is going to Livy's first soccer practice tonight...

Thanks to everyone for coming to the graduation party. I had a great time. Today is my actual graduation day!! It has not sunk in at all!

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Gary
8/8/05
Very quick recap, and I know I'm leaving stuff out:
FRI: We went to Huhot Mongolian Grill for lunch which was lots of fun. From there we all split up for separate shopping trips, with Livy, Tristen and myself going first to Petco and next to Barnes & Noble, where Tristen bought a cool magic kit. We had Val's pizza that night. During dinner, Amanda reminded Lindsey to call Juice Stop to see when they closed; when Lindsey announced they closed in 15 minutes, there were suddenly three human-sized streaks shooting toward the door. The only evidence that Ryan, Anna, and Lindsey had ever been there were their half-eaten pizza slices -- one fork even had a morsel of food still stuck on it. :-)
SAT: This was Amanda's graduation party at Paul & Lori's. Great food, and an excellent magic show thanks to Tristen and her lovely assistant Olivia. Karen, Emily, and Erika arrived at Grandma's around 10:30, and after the party back at Grandma's we played a "who said this" game using lines from old newsletters.
SUN: Today started off with breakfast at the Green Gateau (Grandma, Gary, Marsha, Donna) which was excellent. Then a quick tour of the Sunken Gardens. A bit of shopping while Amanda, Ryan, T & T were at Amanda's other party; then a very nice finger-food evening meal after they came back (and Paul & Lori, Anna, and Livy arrived). Teghan kept us entertained with a blanket and a couple of balloons, and Tristen did a shortened version of her magic act. Lindsey arrived after closing up the Ice Cream Store, and she, Anna, and Livy stayed overnight at Grandma's. Marsha and Anna take off for MN first thing tomorrow morning -- have a nice easy drive! And it was great having you here this summer, Anna!

New pictures today!

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Emily
8/7/05
Hey everybody! We had a fun time in Lincoln yesterday. We got home around 11, so a long day and were tired this morning! But, it was nice to see everyone again!
Dad got us a new volleyball net while we were gone, so we put that up this afternoon and Erika and I have been playing with it for awhile. But it way too hot now, back into the 90, I hope it cools down soon!
Sean, sounds like you've got some good projects going on. Hope it keeps going well!
Have a good trip home tomorrow Marsha and Anna!
And again, congrats to Amanda!

Thanks again for coming down here, you guys! :-) ...But, home around 11?? You must have stopped somewhere for dinner, and had really sloooow service...? --Gary

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Sean
8/5/05
Here's a little something I have been working on for a while. After I purchased my car (1995 Chevy Caprice for those of you who haven't seen it) and my "radio" I came up with this idea for a product. It is to relocate an aftermarket radio into the upper cavity in the car's dash where the heater/ac controls are located from the factory. It puts the controls down below where the radio was. Actually I didn't come up with the idea. A few people have been relocating their radios like this in these cars, but with cutting, glueing, and making brackets and whatever else. Taking many hours and tools to do so, many people wouldn't attempt it. A customer told me he had a stereo shop look at doing the modification for him. They wanted $60 and hour and wouldn't tell him how long it would take. He found my product and it does just what he wanted, and he can easily install it himself, for a fraction of the bill and time he would have had. My kits bolt with no cutting or anything. Just read the E-bay page for details. I did all the measuring using my car, and made a few templates, I hired my work to draw it out in AutoCAD (a computer aided drafting program, I'm teaching myself to use!) for me, and program it for our CNC laser cutters. I put in an order for a batch of them, they cut them out (batches in intervals of 7 parts), I weld them up, and take them to our powdercoating building for a special, very hard, baked-on paint. I throw in the necessary washers, screws, and bolts, wrap them up and throw them in a box along with a few pages of basic instructions and drop them off to the good people at UPS. People have been loving them! I have sold many outside of E-bay through An Impala/Caprice website I am on. People have been very supportive and they have used a lot of word of mouth to other Impala/Caprice owners about my product. I have sold about 20 so far in the past 3 months. I put a big batch of them together, they are waiting in my garage to get shipped out. I have about 3 minutes of my time total in each one, plus ten minutes to stop in at ups on my way home from school. They have paid for the "radio" I have installed in the car! It was very trying on me getting these kits fabbed up while in school and working. Almost cost me failing my Art History class! All of my free time was gone for nearly two weeks and had to drive my car with the dash taken apart for a while!

Check my feedback. Much of my feedback is from selling these kits, see what people have left for me, it's neat. The feedback can be found clicking on the number after my E-bay screen name, Bigchevytoys. It will say, for example ( I currently have 20 positive feedbacks, number will increase with more transactions) Bigchevytoys '20' Click on the "20" after my name to get to the feedback. [Or click here.]

Here's a link to one of the current auctions I'm running for these kits. Watch it and see what happens. It might sell tonight, or it might not sell. Either way, when they do, an extra tank of gas and food money is always nice!

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Nelsons
8/5/05
Happy Anniversary John and Marsha!

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John
8/5/05
Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!!!

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Erika
8/4/05
Hi everyone yesterday I think was the hottest day all year the heat index at 6:00 P.M. was 111 degrees!!! When mom came in from checking on the outside kittens (T.J. Napoleon and (Mr.) Debbie) She said that the kitties were dying outside (not actually). So we moved them out of the tin shed (probably not a good place for them) into the garage. We gave them a big bowl of ice water, a rug, and a fan. They were a lot better; at least until the horrible rains came!!!!! It was so rainey, and thundery, lightingy and the lightning was just like a huge strobe light. The lightning honestly never stopped.
Earlier that day Emily and me spray-painted some of our patio chairs but when we went outside this morning they all had chips in the paint (because of the rain)!!!!!!! The picture on the page really makes me wish it was winter and we had snow but maybe not that much I remember that Dad left for work and a couple minutes later he called us and said he was stuck at the end of the block there he was with the help from some people driving by we got out he got by the next corner fine but he didn't get back home so went down to the other corner myself and thats where the picture was taken! In that picture I didn't even see myself in it at first but right behind the truck in my white coat!!!

Erika, be sure and check the picture tomorrow! :-) And I think you were also in Monday's picture -- wasn't that you by the back door...? --Gary

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Gary
8/4/05
Entertainment news:

Filming is going on right now for "The Producers," the musical version of the Mel Brooks movie. This one stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and will be in theaters in December 21.

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Donna
8/4/05
Gary, another great picture and quote! Snow week must be working--it's supposed to be a cool day! Woohoo! And it's the Husker's first day of practice. Ah, fall can't be far away.

Thanks. My thermometer yesterday read 105 degrees, though "officially" I don't think it got that hot. (It read 69 degrees this morning, a difference of 36 degrees in little more than 12 hours.) But anyway, I am predicting here and now that we have seen the last 100-degree day this year. And yeah, football: four weeks from this Saturday is our first game. So just hang on, everybody! --Gary

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Lindsey
8/3/05
Wow I had to catch up on my reading for the newsletter. Hadn't been able to get on the computer for a while but Ryan came over early today and worked on our computer all day and now we can access the internet. But we had a fun day, between pancakes, park, and twister. Then Ryan went and picked up Amanda and they came back over and hung out here. Then Amanda, me, and Anna made another Juice Stop trip (third day in a row and still going) for everybody here. Then we came back and watched some TV and then headed over to the County Fair when my mom and dad got home. That was pretty fun, saw some animals and crafts and then went on some rides (got some pictures I think) and then came home and ordered Val's pizza and hung out for a while. Pretty fun day!

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Donna
8/3/05
Yes, as far as I know, Marsha will be here tomorrow afternoon. I hope Emily decides to come. Eyes of the World is having their anniversary sale if that will tempt her at all. ;-) Please come Emily!

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Karen
8/3/05
Amanda, those are real falls. In fact I think that the city even had to "tame" them down a bit. I have been enjoying the snow pictures this week -- especially since it's been so grossly hot. Another fairly quiet week for us. We did rent a really good movie yesterday: Spellbound. Think Lincolnites would enjoy that for a Saturday night movie. So does Marsha get to Lincoln tomorrow? We are planning to come on Saturday. Brent is staying home and Emily is still deciding, but probably will come too.

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Amanda
8/3/05
I LOVE today's crawl! It is so true!!!! Best crawl yet!

For those whose computers don't see the crawl, it is: "When you live in Texas, every single time you see snow it's magical. --Pamela Ribon." --Gary

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Amanda
8/2/05
Just finally getting to the bonus pictures. What neat falls! Nicer than Wichita's Falls' falls! Are those real, or man made? Cool cool, what a day you had. Today I had my last Tuesday as an intern. A pretty uneventful day. I got off an hour early & Ryan & I went to Chipoltle (for the first time) to grab some lunch before we all went to Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. Then home for hanging out & dinner.

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Donna
8/2/05
Yesterday's front page picture was a nice one. Do you think it will ever be cold enough to snow again? It was 80 degrees with 59% humidity at 5 this morning and it's supposed to get to 100 today. Yuck. But we have our first Husker game in a few weeks, I think. Fall can't be that far away. Great picture of Livy today. I don't remember seeing that one before. Gary, nice job selecting the quotes to the pictures--both today's and yesterday's were especially good.
Emily, Seven Years in Tibet is one of my favorite movies. That's one movie I could watch any time. I really should own it.

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Emily
8/1/05
I love the front page picture! Its nice to see some snow, since its getting hot and back into the 90s around here.
Gary, we were wanting to rent some movies, and I kinda wanted to see the one that you brought over last time we were in Lincoln, that we never got to watch. But we can't remember what it was called, the one about Tibet. Do you remember what it was?

Yeah, nice to see some snow indeed! That picture was from just last year, and was an actual snow-day. The movie was called "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion" and I thought it was going to be a kind of nature film about Tibet's mountains and wildlife, etc. However, it turned out to be about Tibet's troubled recent history, and therefore was full of scenes of rioting, etc. Interesting, perhaps, but not what I was expecting. So it may not be the movie you were expecting, either. You might instead want to watch "Seven Years in Tibet," a 1987 movie with Brad Pitt that tells the true story of an Austrian mountaineer's experiences there. Good movie! --Gary

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The Hatgidakis Family
8/1/05
Happy Anniversary Brent & Karen!

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Amanda
8/1/05
Sounds good Gary... Ryan did get in at about 1 Sunday & we went to Metcalfs for about 2 hours then out to get Tristen from the lake. (She camped overnight with my mom) We were going to come back to town to eat with my dad for Sean's birthday, but Sean had other arrangements, so we stayed out at the lake. It was a nice day. We went for a boat ride at 10:30, which was amazing, we could see more stars that you would ever hope to see in town! It was great. Today everyone slept in, Teghan & Ryan are just now getting up at 10! And I smell bacon wafting up the stairs, so I better go investigate!

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Ryan, Amanda, Tristen & Teghan
8/1/05
Happy Anniversary Brent & Karen!

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Donna
8/1/05
Happy Anniversary Karen and Brent!

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Erika, Nicole, and Cocoa
8/1/05
Happy Anniversery Mom and Dad

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Emily & Erika
8/1/05
Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

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Gary
8/1/05
Lots happening here lately, but no updates... people are busy! (Also, I haven't received any email all day today -- even junk mail, which is very unusual -- so maybe there's a problem and your newsletter items are held up somewhere...) Anyway, I can fill in some of the blanks: On Friday some of us went to the movies. We went the the Grand, where one group (Amanda, Anna, Lindsey) went to "The Wedding Crashers" and the other group (Grandma, Gary, Donna, Olivia, Tristen, Teghan) went to "March of the Penguins." Reviews of each will probably show up here soon. After the movie we all went to Noodles & Co. for a fun meal, and after that next door to Starbucks for coffee. (Or in my case an ultra-chocolatey drink called a "Chantico" -- wow! Excellent!) Saturday night, Lindsey, Olivia, and Anna were over at Grandma's for spaghetti and a movie ("Merchant of Venice"). My car was acting weird, so Donna kindly supplied all the transportation. Sunday, I hear Ryan arrived around noon, and they were at Metcalfs (I think) most of the day. That's the general picture of the weekend!

Meanwhile, hope you enjoy the "Snow Days" pages this week. The last of the zoo pictures are now up, and some bonus pictures on a separate page. Happy August, everybody!

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