Scales’ Farm Cabins

This past weekend Mary Ellen and I finally just had to get away and leave the little one behind. We have only had one date night since the move up to Fishers and thought it was just time for some one on one time. So around 2:00 on Friday the 20th I left work and met the wife at my parents house were she dropped off Liam and we headed down to the Bloomington area where we were going to spend a couple of nights in a secluded cabin.

Kenny and Karen Scales built two log cabins, which was a five year project, on their 131 acre farm. Most of the material used to build the two cabins came off the farm. We drove to the very bottom of the hill were there was a little retention pond with trees and a field. It really was very scenic and the cabin itself was just beautiful with a wrap around porch and a huge stone fireplace that you walked behind to get to the upstairs loft. We met Kenny a very nice man with a long white beard who gave us and a tour but who also was a little hard of hearing. Mary and I felt like we were yelling at him when we talked which was a little comical.



We had a very relaxing weekend with nothing much to do except to watch the fire or movies, listen to music and drink. We stayed in and I cooked both nights and a beautiful light snow came in on Saturday morning which just added to the atmosphere. Finally it was time to leave Sunday morning and we de-iced the car and packed our stuff. Mary Ellen and I sat down and were just about to pull out when we looked at each other and began to wonder if our four cylinder front wheel drive Ford could make it up this steep, snow covered hill we came down on Friday afternoon.



I crossed my fingers then grabbed the steering wheel and took off. We got several feet before we slid back down the hill when Mary suggested that I turn the steering wheel from side to side to try to get some additional traction. So while pressing the accelerator and turning the wheel from left to right we slowly climbed part of the hill. To make matters worse some ice got caught in Mary’s door so she could not shut it all the way or open it and the “passage door ajar” beep kept going off. The smell of something burning along with Mary’s panic that we might slide off the side of the hill added to the situation.



We finally got half way up to where their other cabin was at, and no matter how we tried we just could not go any further so we made it to the second cabin’s drive and called the owners. They informed us that they would be on their way to see what they could do and we told the couple who was staying there the situation. After a while they decided to go for it and watching their SUV not being able to go any further then we did made me feel a little bit better.

After setting in the drive for about forty five minutes I started to hear a humming sound and soon saw Kenny coming over the hill on a red tractor with a snow plow attached to the back. He made a couple passes with the plow and then the couple in the SUV after some difficulty made it up. It was then our turn to try and after getting about twenty feet up and sliding back down again we gave it one more shot. The engine screamed, the burning smell was back and we slid back and forth but we just did make it to the top. Wiping the sweat off my brow we were finally free so I didn’t have to go into Bear Grylls/Les Stroud survival mode and we could get home to Liam.

> www.scalesfarmcabins.com

My Thoughts on Stimulus Package

It appears that a compromise has been reach between the House of Representatives and the Senate so it should be on President Obama’s desk soon. I am a firm believer that the economy needs to be stimulated and would have liked to see more job creation measures and less tax cuts but I am hopeful that this bill will do some good especially if it is in conjunction with other activates to get the banks unfrozen and tackle the housing crises. Some of the tax cuts would be helpful if it would help to keep or hire employees but if most I feel most of the tax cuts would be put into savings rather then back into the economy.

I was not very happy with the GOP and felt that the administration tried to working with them and the GOP flat refused to corporate. I am glad that the senators from Maine and Senator Specter for putting America first and politics second. What really galls me is all the spending republicans did in regards to their agenda (i.e. the two wars we have right now) and then they put up a fight over this? I guess I am tired of this coming from both parties and just want to see them work to benefit the country instead of bickering over partisan issues. I think this is going to be a long hard fight for President Obama that I don’t know if he will be able to win or not. I do think this is what the country voted for and am hopeful.

The U.S.S. Indianapolis

The U.S.S. Indianapolis left its mark in World War II history twice. It was the United States’ destroyer that delivered the first atomic bomb to the island of Tinian on July 26, 1945. With it being so close to the end of the war one would think that the Indianapolis would only become a trivia question for later generations in regards to nuclear history but just a few days later disaster struck. The U.S.S. Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese sub on July 30, 1945 in Philippine waters on its way to Leyte. The US destroyer sank quickly and 300 of its 1,196 crew went down with the ship. The remaining members of the crew endured four days in the water without food, water and most without lifeboats. To make matters worse many men lost their life to shark attacks throughout the ordeal.

The Indianapolis slipped through the cracks and was not reported missing, so it was only by chance that a plane accidentally spotted the survivors. When all was said and done only 316 men were left. The fallout came shortly after the rescue and Captain Charles Butler McVay, III was found guilty of not zigzag in a court marshal and served out the remaining of his service in obscurity. He eventually took his own life in 1968. The surviving crew members fought hard to clear the captain’s name and on October 12, 2000 they were able to get Congress to pass an amendment to exonerate him. What it failed to do was wipe the court marshal from his record.

There is a beautiful memorial that was erected for the crew in 1995 and was designated a National Memorial by Congress. The money was paid for by The U.S.S. Indianapolis (CA-35) Survivors Memorial Organization, Inc a not-for-profit Company based in Indianapolis. You can find the memorial at the North end of the Canal Walk off of Senate Ave & Walnut St. in downtown Indianapolis. The pictures in the blog are of the memorial.

If you would like to read a little more about the U.S.S. Indianapolis you can visit their web site at http://www.ussindianapolis.org/. A good book that I read was called In Harm’s Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors, by Doug Stanton.

Through the Lens of a Four Year Old

It is inevitable in today’s age not to have children playing with your digital camera. After all they spend countless times on the other end of the lens getting their picture taken all of the time now, so it is not hard to figure out that they would like to do the actually taking. One day several weeks ago Liam got his hands on the camera and began taking pictures needless to say when I uploaded them to the computer I about rolled out of my seat.

I will show you the pictures and give you my interpretations of them as if I was Liam…enjoy!

This is my dad who keeps telling me not to put my fingers on the lens, but what does he know? I think daddy is funny and is great to play with but I don’t let him rock me at night. Why is he bent over like that?

This is one of my many blankies that I stash all over the house. It happens to be on the bar stool that I like to climb and it never fails that my daddy tells me to be careful.

These are my stairs they lead up to my bedroom and toy room which I won’t stay in by myself. The bottom step is for timeouts because my blue cutie pie eyes don’t always work.

This picture is of one of Spike’s balls. He is the robot dinosaur that my Grandma and Grandpa got me for Christmas. I tell people all the toys I want to get for Christmas and birthday presents but then I end up just playing my video games. Daddy keeps telling me that my eyes will rot out, but I don’t believe him.

Here is a picture of some of my new toys…I don’t like to put them away when I’m done.

This is the TV I get to play my video games on, but Mommy and Daddy always seem to want to watch football. When will they learn that I rule this house?

This is my lap. Don’t ask me why I took this one because I don’t know.

This is the basket that Mommy keeps all of my shoes, boots, sunglasses, hats and such. It was on my level so I took a picture of it.

Did I mention that these are MY TOYS! Keep your mitts off!

This is my Mommy. She is the greatest Mommy in the world. Isn’t she pretty? Mommy is the one who gets to rock me at night…not Daddy.

My New Drive Home

As most of you know Mary Ellen and I moved up to Fishers from New Palestine this past October, and I knew before hand that the traffic would be bad. I didn’t know that it would be this bad, and I came to find out in a very short time that these Fishers commuters are freaking nuts! I fear for my life every time I start up the car to go home.

I try and leave the office about ten minutes before five or try and wait it out until around six because the less of these nuts I encounter the better for my own sanity. When I drive I try to stay within five miles per hour of the speed limit, give plenty of space and generally try and stay out of the way of the insane people driving at breakneck speeds. My patience on the other hand is not very good so putting me out there on the same roads as these nut cases is like adding fuel to a fire.

Unfortunately because I have to get Liam or home to relieve my mother I am generally leaving at rush hour with the rest of the certifiably insane nut cases that have just gotten off work and who are all in foul moods. Most of these people ride so close that it feels like someone is performing a prostate examination the whole way home. They all bunch up together and gang up not to let people merge and if someone is able to get over there is usually honking and hand gestures to follow.

Then there is dealing with the I-465 and 69 merger where you have people coming four lanes over from left to right and right to left which absolutely gums the whole thing up. Then about a mile down the interstate all the people who went all the way over into the far left lane now want to come back over because that lane ends. People switch lanes here, then there and then back again instead of just driving. What you get is a 20 minute drive turned into an hour with frayed nerves and a bad demeanor.

I will give you one short story just to illustrate the hell I have to deal with. I spent my forty five minutes in traffic and started to head west on 116th Street because I was heading to the grocery. I was in the left lane waiting on a light but could not get up to the light because of the turn lane to get to 69 was backed up. So this lady pulls up behind me and starts blaring her horn and I could see her screaming through the rear view mirror. So I just shrug my shoulders because there is no where I can go until the turn lane starts to move. This woman does not let up, and at this point I have had it so the light turns green everyone moves except for me. I raise up my hand extend the middle finger and enjoy myself as the woman goes into all sorts of gyrations and horn blowing. After a few moments of enjoyment I move on my way.

That was just one of my many encounters with traffic I have been enjoying since my move. These people are mean, aggressive, and will try your patience so if you are headed up to Fishers during rush hour I would suggest relaxing music and some sort of mantra to get you through.

Leave some comments of your traffic nightmares.

Redneck Parking

Where in my driveway is there a sign for Redneck Parking? Please if anyone has ever noticed a sign at anytime in my driveway that said redneck parking please let me know!

Around 10:00 PM last night I was getting ready to brush my teeth and get to bed at a reasonable hour when all of the sudden I heard this incredibly load bang. I turned down the television and looked out my window and saw what looked like to be a garbage truck or two in the park a few houses down. I thought that maybe they were empting a dumpster and it fell off the truck, so I go back to my business. A few seconds later Mary Ellen yelled up the stairs that there was a car crash just outside of our home.

So I put on my coat, boots and hat to go outside when Mary said I think you should stay in because someone is going crazy out there and a truck just drove into a yard/driveway. But I thought I should go out and make sure everyone was okay as Mary dialed 911. Apparently the neighbors’ daughter and boyfriend must have been backing out of their driveway and this guy in the white truck slammed into them. A confrontation then issued and then he drove the truck into its resting place in my yard/driveway and he took off on foot. When I got out there my neighbor was out looking for they driver of the white truck with baseball bat in hand.

After a few minutes the police start showing up and they get a K-9 unit in to track this guy down, who I believe lives at the front of our neighborhood. I don’t think anyone was hurt too bad, because the paramedics didn’t bring anyone out of the house, but I’m not too sure about that. The car on the driver’s side looked like mangled aluminum foil and there was glass all over the street, it is amazing that no one was seriously hurt. Finally the driver of the white truck was caught by the dogs and I watched at the police pulled out the guys hunting rifle and found his target in the back of the bed. The other thing that was a little unusual was all the ice scattered in my driveway which leads me to believe he must had been drinking and dumped it while he took off running.

Luckily Mary was with me this time and reminded me to take some pictures for my blog, and by 11:45 PM the wreaker finally showed up to get the truck out of my yard/driveway. I thought we had moved away from the East Side but between this and our deer pornography I’m starting to wonder.

-----Update: December 31, 2008-----

Mary Ellen spoke with our neighbor briefly last night and the driver of the car was pretty lucky, just 14 stitches. I guess what happen was the white truck was behind the car which was turning left into their driveway when the truck tried to go around them. The truck sped up and crashed right into the drivers’ side of the car and actually pushed it quite a way before stopping. The driver of the truck had .2 blood alcohol content with the police picked him up. And the ice was actually from our neighbor who threw at the guy as he took off running.

Someone Call 911 our Deer have been Violated Again

If you read my blog from December 11, 2008 titled Woman, You Sound Old you would know that one morning my wife found our two lighted Christmas deer getting it on in the front yard. Well it has happened again, but at least this time the perpetrator(s) understood that the Buck goes on top. One also has to question why these criminal masterminds could not come up with something new instead of using humping deer again. Oh well at least this time they got the right sex on top.

These culprits of deer pornography strike really late because I was not feeling good this past night and went downstairs around 2:30 AM to get some water and the crime had not taken place yet. I guess next year Mary Ellen and I are going to have to stake the scene out in shifts with a super soaker filled with urine. At least this time I was able to remember to get a picture for your viewing enjoyment.