Early December - Grand Illumination or Illusion?

Early December 2014

Monday, December 1

Since late May, I had been taking classes and studying for an intermediate ITIL certification. My plan was to take the exam Monday morning after everyone left for school and then after my run. To that end I was up, exercised, and ran 4 miles by 845am.

Nightmarish experience with the unproctored online test access and software. Long story short, took almost 2 hours to get my laptop configured correctly. By the time I was ready to begin the exam it was almost 11am. By then, I was literally shaken and frazzled, though not leaning on that as the reason why I failed the exam – (failed by 1% point). 

The thought of missing the cut by one measly percentage point drove me crazy for the next day or so.

After getting back to work and then collecting my thoughts, I sent a note to the ITIL governing body and HD advising of the myriad of technical difficulties  I encountered and then candidly asked for another opportunity at no cost to me. I was surprised when later that night they responded and agreed to let me do a retake at no charge. Cool deal! That would save $350!

During my lunch break, I drove to Kroger where I paid Courtney’s overdue electric bill. L While out, I made a couple more stops. First, I stopped at the Lincoln Village Sherwin-Williams where I grabbed several paint color strips – all in the tan family (warm, neutral, cool). Also stopped at Home Depot on W. Broad  &270 where I bought 19 baffle and trim ring assemblies for the basement lighting fixtures.

Wednesday, December 3

Date night. Before heading to dinner, Mindy and I stopped at the Grandview Sherwin-Williams where we bought five gallons of paint – 2 gallons of primer and 3 gallons of Duration satin in macadamia. Even though their paint has primer in it, the sales associate talked us into using plain white primer first. If for no other reason than that plain drywall primer costs $17 per gallon, whereas the Duration paint was about $41 per gallon which was after a 40% discount.

At Barley’s we ran into Rick Coffing. Not too often he’s in on a Wednesday. I enjoyed a regular pale ale while Mindy enjoyed a St Joan’s. From the outset I knew what my 2^nd beer would be, a Brew Kettle El Lupulo Libre, their new DIPA. Before that, however, we ordered some food. I went with a bowl of chicken chili and a plate of K.C. wings. Mindy ordered a burger. Current Barley’s employee and friend, Katy and her husband took the two stools right next to us. Talked with the two of them through our brief visit. By the way, the El Lupulo Libre was incredible!

Rick and I talked about local radio personalities, he sharing that Bob Connors died recently after retiring in Florida. Too bad. He guessed he was nearing 80 years of age.  Left for home near 8pm. The kids were already there and waiting upon our arrival. We had a box of leftovers – 4 wings and half a burger. The kids snacked on ‘em but didn't finish ‘em off.

Thursday, December 4

Ran four miles. Worked from the Hilliard office. NO snow in the 10 day forecast, Weather hovering between 35-45 degrees for highs and not getting cold enough overnight to make decent snow. Too bad.

Got a call from Aspen Fireplace sharing that our new gas logs were in. Set install date for Tuesday, December 9. Exciting!

Friday, December 5

Ran three miles. Work from home. Kidless weekend ahead. Mindy and I had loose plans to attend The Grand Illumination at 229/Fountain Park. The weather forecast was calling for rain and the low 40s. Not exactly wintry Xmas weather conditions, but hey! Last year we had a big snow storm that day, and they nearly canceled the event, which we could laugh about because it was so perfect! 6-8” of snow for the Xmas festival.

Kids left with their dad near 5pm. Mindy and I left for The Grand Illumination near 6pm. Parked at a meter off of Rich or Town St. Steady rain fall for the duration, and forgot to bring my umbrella. Dang! Headed inside 229 right away. Danielle saw us to a barside table, on over from where we sat last visit. The Grand Illumination hadn’t yet taken place though a decent crowd and lots going on out there despite the rain.

Drank Great Lakes Xmas ale - just one. Chatted some with owners Doug & Jeannie, who stopped in briefly on their way to the casino. Ordered two appetizers: pretzel bread and four snacks. Yum! Unfortunately, though, my hiatal hernia acted up making it somewhat uncomfortable to eat or drink anything for quite a while. Feels like food gets stuck at the entrance to my stomach and then it spasms. Ugh!

We were there long enough to witness the illumination but then it was onto Emellio’s on the westside for neighbor Mike’s 50^th birthday celebration. That gather was set to begin at 7pm. We arrived somewhere between 730-8pm. Still raining at a good clip, by the way.

Arrived to a more than packed lot. Several cars were double parked. Ran into a former co-worker of mine who was in the lot moving his car so another could exit. He let me block him in before we headed inside.

Mike’s get together was officially in the back party room, but folks were mingling all over the smallish bar. Emellio’s, by the way is a long standing popular westside pizza eatery and bar on Georgesville Rd. Excellent pizza – spicy sauce and tiny pepperonis that pool the grease. Yum!

Initially enjoyed an Ithaca IPA while Mindy nursed a water. My 2^nd and third beers were CBC IPAs. Happy to see that they’ve added a couple microbrews to their menu. Lots of familiar westside faces – mostly older crowd (50+). Good time.  Mindy and I stuck around until 10pm or so. Chrissy & Kenny were there too. Talked with them at length for the first time in a couple of months.

Saturday, December 6

Up near 8am. Felt just dandy. Played on the computer while enjoying coffee for more than an hour before setting of on my Saturday 3 mile run. In fact, Mindy sent me a text asking for coffee and snuggling. I headed upstairs with coffee and hung out for 45 minutes or do before ultimately heading out for a run around 10am.

Mindy made eggs while I was off on my run. After a quick breakfast, it was time to get started on the basement painting. Thinking it was 1130am when I got started edging with the primer. Started in the bathroom, which is probably the most tedious area (lots of corners).  Mindy joined me about an hour into the painting after learning that Jacob’s 2pm soccer game was canceled due to a rain soaked field. She agreed to paint the pantry and closet with the special concrete block that seals and coats. Before getting started, however, I asked that she go after another gallon of drywall primer. The bare walls were really soaking it in.

We planned to paint for most of the afternoon stopping so we could make it to GD Kaileigh’s cheer competition at the Columbus Convention center. However, turned out, her event got cancelled too. We ended up painting until almost 6pm. Took Mindy all day to paint those two small areas. Very tedious work! I managed to finish trimming and rolling all the drywalled surfaces. Hoped to apply the first coat of color on Sunday.

The evening prior, neighbor Chrissy invited us over to watch the Big Ten championship game. Said they would be hosting a party. After showers I suggested Mindy give Chrissy a call. She and Kenny were just on their way home from dinner. Party was off, but offered that we could join them for the game if we wanted. Can’t recall a day in recent memory where all the day’s events were canceled like Saturday’s. We ended up curling up in our comfy clothes and watching the Big Ten championship game at home alone.

Buckeyes romped Wisconsin. Never in a million years did I expect the 59-0 outcome, but enjoyed it very, very much save for the one horrible penalty called on a Buckeye defender for targeting.