Thursday, February 16, 2012

Science Fair and Couple's Garage Party

It was a busy day for me yesterday. My boss and I were judges for the Middle School Science Fair. She has judged in the past but this was my first time judging. We had to be at the school by 8:30 am for a short informational meeting. When I signed us up for this I told the 8th grade science teacher that I had a meeting at 2:00 and hoped that wouldn't be a problem. He scheduled us to be done by noon.

We had 12 teams to judge and they had their criteria that had to be met. First the kids had to have a hypothesis, then they had to show their work with dependent and independent variables and have their conclusion. The student had display boards that showed their work. In our group of 12 only 4 didn't have their display boards and we had one group that was a no show. One kid did come but his partner didn't come to school and the missing partner had the display board. We both felt bad for him but we had to give him a low score because he was missing this.

The kids we had all did a very good job and they chose interesting topics. Ranged from bacteria, mold, sugars, music, heart rates, plants, and cleaners. The ones who did bacteria did their experiment on the drinking fountains at the school. They both said they would never drink water out of those fountains again, drink bottled water. Some of the kids recognized me from tae kwon do. I had 4 that had taken tae kwon do from me that I judged. I was very fair.

The highest score the kids could have on their project was 90 points and we were fairly even staying in the 70 range. The ones who scored lower were the ones who didn't have the display boards. I enjoyed it and the kids were fun to work with. My boss and I then went out to lunch and we got back in plenty of time for our meeting that was in the afternoon.

After work, Gary and I headed to Billings to attend the Couple's Garage Party at the Harley Dealership. We had received an e-mail from the president of the chapter asking for volunteers to sit at the the chapter table at the event. Gary and I volunteered since we were going anyway and he was getting alot of denials. Our new membership officer also manned the table with us.

I have been to a few garage parties before so I know what to expect. We had some snacky type foods and adult beverages to drink along with soda. Gary ended up visiting with our friends while I stayed at the table. We did have a few come and ask us questions. I invited the people to come to our meeting on Sunday to see what we are all about. Handed out the calendar that we did last year to show them how much fun we have. Hope at least one comes.

I did get the chance to wander around. I did the dyna demo at Gary's urging. He wanted to see me get on a bike and start it up and run through the gears. I had done this once before, so I did. This time the bike that was used is the new softail slim, a bike made for people with short legs. Anyway I got all the way through 6th gear and up to 70 mph. Good thing that the bike doesn't move, it would be a whole different story otherwise. Gary even got on the demo bike and he wants one.

There was a photographer there that would take a 5X7 portrait of us on a bike for $5. We paid the $5 and had our portrait taken. We will be able to pick it up on Friday at the dealership. I got to thinking that with my photography class I'm taking, I should be good enough to do something like this and make a little extra money. The photographer didn't have any extra stuff, just a simple background, camera with external flash on a tripod and his computer to download the images. He just took one shot of people so not a hard job at all.

We didn't win any of the prizes this time. We left at 8:30 but stopped at McDonald's on the way home to get something to eat. The snacks didn't fill us up and they were some very fancy stuff that in my opinion didn't taste very well. We each did get a coupon for $10 off our next purchase.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Valentine's Day Date

Saturday Gary and I celebrated Valentine's Day. We have class on Tuesday so it just wouldn't work for us.

We didn't do anything special, went to a movie and had dinner. In between we went grocery shopping. Gary also updated his cell phone.

We saw the movie "Safe House" and enjoyed it. It was playing at the new theater on Shiloh, went to the afternoon matinee where ticket prices are a bit cheaper. We didn't buy any snacks as those are way too over priced anyway.

For dinner we went to Famous Dave's BBQ. We had a gift card from his brother for there and used it. We shared a meal called the American Feast for $35. We got BBQ ribs, chicken and brisket with baked beans, cole slaw and some corn muffins. We couldn't eat it all so had to get to go boxes. There was enough for another meal. It was very delicious.

In between movie and dinner, we stopped at the mall to just wander around. It was quite busy with the boy scouts having their pine wood car derby. We stopped at the Verizon cell phone booth. I told Gary that his phone needs upgrading. His old one has been slowing going downhill. I told him that it would be nice that when I call, he would answer.

The phone he got is called octane. It is a flip phone with a regular keyboard for his texting. He also gets a $50 mail in rebate with it. So far he likes it, still finding all the whistles and bells for it. We did have to change our phone plan, it is basically the same thing just a different name and no changes in the price of the billing.

Sunday Jennifer and I went to the movie "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". I read the book and am now reading the second one. It was a very intense movie.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Dentist Appointment

Tuesday I had a dentist appointment after missing for nine months. I was supposed to go in July, but had to cancel because of my surgery. I just never rescheduled and then the holidays hit. Figured I had better get in gear and back on track with my dental health.

Made the appointment and it fit for my schedule as I had a HOG meeting later that night. I took the whole day off to spend in Billings. My dental appointment was scheduled for 11:00 am so I didn't have to leave too early. I just didn't figure out the weather.

Monday morning we had freezing rain and the roads were covered in a thin layer of black ice. Made driving and walking very interesting. I was a bit worried but it had warmed up enough during the day to melt all that ice. Tuesday was a bit snowy just a few flurries. The roads were snowy but fortunately not icy. I left for Billings earlier than usual to allow time for the roads. The passing lanes were snowy and had small ground blizzards along the way. Did get into white out conditions when idiots passed me going 80 mph. Pretty much basic winter driving.

I arrived safe and sound in Billings without any problems. Checked in for my appointment, had a wait just a bit as I was early. Fortunately I took my kindle with me so was able to read Bonnie's book. My appointment went fine, survived the cleaning. Teeth weren't too bad after 9 months and I didn't get scolded either.

Had the rest of the day to wander. Didn't do anything exciting or get any therapy, waiting for that when Jennifer and I go shopping for her Korea trip. I did spend time in shops drinking coffee and I finished Bonnie's book.

My meeting was at 6:00 and we got done around 7:30. I just headed straight home and the roads were better going home at night than they were in the morning. All in all it was a nice day.

I had originally planned to spend some time at the zoo taking photos but the weather didn't cooperate for that. Will have to do the zoo thing later in the spring.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

More Winter

It's official, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today in Pennsylvania. That means six more weeks of winter.

Can't really complain, winter has been pretty mild this year. I think we have had snow twice this winter. Once just before Thanksgiving, but that wasn't very much. Came one day and melted away the next.

Our most recent snowfall was just a couple weeks ago. We got about 2 feet of snow and cold temperatures.

Now we are back having our spring like weather. Keeping my fingers crossed that this trend will continue, but Easter is not here yet.