Mick’s Miscellaneous Meanderings

So I joined this running group back in April 2007 called H.A.R.D. – Harrisburg-Annville Running Dementia. My entire family thought I was completely crazy…not because it’s running (heck I’ve been running on and off since college) but because the group meets at 5 o’clock in the morning. Not being a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, they (and I) never thought it would last beyond a couple of days. But the group sucked me in. From day one they welcomed me and made me feel a part of the family. I even started to look forward to getting up at 4:30…Spencer just has that affect on people!

When I bought my house members of the group showed up with gloves and shovels to do things to this place that I wouldn’t ask my best friend to do. They were there to help me tear shingles off the roof, to pull up the pee stained carpets, to clean out the mouse dropping and lady bug infested shed contents. And they were there on the morning runs ready with moral support and asking how this week’s work on the house went.

After getting overwhelmed the past month, running fell by the wayside…getting up for a 5 am run just took too much effort. I still kept up with the latest news and fun – like Pippy Longstocking sightings (Marc’s newest running costume) – through the H.A.R.D. forum but it’s not the same as being there. I missed them and looked forward to returning to the regular morning runs. And I vowed to do so as soon as I put the last shingle on the roof. That happened this afternoon.

I finished the roof just in time to get cleaned up and make a quick chili dip to take to the annual H.A.R.D. Christmas party. This was my first H.A.R.D. Christmas party so I didn’t know what all went on. It seems H.A.R.D. has created quite a history in its 10 years (I’m still learning it in bits and pieces) and also a tradition. I found out the tradition the H.A.R.D. way!

Since I am the self-appointed photographer for the group, I always take my camera to the get-togethers. When Wendy stood up and got the group’s attention to make an announcement, I dove for my camera to capture the moment. Bonnie all but tackled me, saying she’d take the picture and that I shouldn’t worry about it. I insisted on it and pried her off me. I sat back on the couch with my camera and waited for Wendy to start her spiel. She explained that instead of exchanging names and gifts every year they pool their money and just get one gift and give that to one person in the group. And this year they were giving it to me. Huh???

She handed me a card. I sat back down wondering whether to open it or not and whether something would jump out of the card if I did. Shawn told me to open it so I did. I was floored. There was a Lowe’s gift card with a picture of me working on the roof of my house. And it was for $300!!! This confirmed it. These people really were nuts!!! I was speechless.

These guys are really something. I never saw it coming. I know I’ve been a little out of the loop with not having run much in the past month but sheesh… I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on these guys!

So, to all the H.A.R.D. members:

Thank you so very much for this gift. It really means a lot to me that you guys did this. I’ll hang a piece of window trim in each of your names.

I had a really good time hanging with you all tonight. It was the best evening I’ve had in a long, long time. I wish you knew how serious I am when I say that you guys will never know how much being a part of the group has done for me. It’s brought healing and helped restore trust I’d lost in mankind. Thank you so much!!!!

And to Kathy…does this sound familiar to you – Beep?

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Pick your friends wisely. And that means never be friends with a member of the HARD Runners group because you never know what they’ll do to you. Mike Shay found that out this morning, his last day of work at the Annville Post Office, when he showed up to a side walk full of chalk art.

And to save time when we get sent to prison for vandalizing government property, we already took our profile picture

Shay retaliates by posting a WANTED sign in the post office

I am the owner of a brand spanking new mortgage. After two and a half months of trying to close on a house, I finally signed the papers today. I don’t think there was much ink left in the pen after all those signatures!

Now I just have to wait for the guy to get his stuff out of the house…he’s only had two and a half months, after all.

In the meantime, I’m going on a short backpacking trip…my last hoorah before I have to replace a roof and windows, put siding up, clean up and generally make the place inhabitable.

I’ll get some pictures once the guy has moved his stuff out.

I admit it. I’m a challenge junkie. Anything that requires a steep learning curve, I’m there. I’d be bored to death working in a factory assembly line connecting widget A with widget B day after day. Hence, I’m self-employed and can turn my attention to where ever my interest lies.

My latest interest is in machining. I’ve been interested in it for years but never took the time to explore beyond what I need to be able to replace a tenon or graphite band on a clarinet, etc. Now I’ve got a bit of a motivation boost. I just purchased a CNC lathe and mill at an auction a couple weeks ago.

Last evening, I made my first…uh…thing…from some brass round stock. It’s a completely useless thing but it was a real leap of progress – from repairing the emergency cut off switch to figuring out how to change the presets in the code to allow the tool to get close enough to the chuck to learning to home the machine, set the tool offsets, create a program to tell the cutting tool where to move to, how much to cut, etc. Simply awesome stuff!

Now to create something useful.

Almost any road that crossed over the Swatara Creek was flooded out June 28 through June 30, 2006 from all the crazy rain we had during the week and a half prior (3 days of which I was backpacking…ARGH!!!). I was stuck at the shop for two nights until the waters receded. Well, ok, if I had wanted to drive an hour out of my way to get home, I could have used I-83 and I-81. I took a drive on Wednesday, June 28 to check out the rising water. Here are the pics I took:

Swatara at Harper’s Tavern – 5 miles north of Annville

These are from the same area but show where the Swatty has flooded the farmer’s fields. The creek should be on the other side of the tree line!

These are from the Quitty Creek where Syner and Palmyra-Bellegrove Roads meet:

These are from Syner Road just north of the quarry:

I heard on the radio today that Gov. Rendell is trying to get most of PA classified as a disaster area to get funds from the federal government for cleanup.