In my previous post I mention my mammoth Memorial Day Weekend project – putting together a playset for the kids. Let me totally clear here – this wasn’t one of those aluminum tube playsets we grew up with that had a couple swings, a metal slide that burned our legs when it got hot, and was prone to tip over if the husky kid down the street started swinging too hard. No, this is one of the modern wood beam swinging structures with the rock climbing walls, rope ladders, play decks four feet off the ground and sandboxes underneath. It’s the stuff you see at Lowes, Home Depot, and in the back yards of McMansion subdivisions everywhere. They require hundreds of pounds of wood, thousands of screws, and a combined dozen or so hours to build.

I’m the proverbial (one hundred and) ninety pound weakling who doesn’t work hard for a living, so I was going to need major help. My father-in-law was out of the question since he just had surgery on his shoulder and is unable to use it this summer. Ditto my wife, who has a full time job keeping the kids in line. So we turn to our local friend Brian, a guy we met in college and stayed in touch with periodically (but not nearly enough) after graduating. He’s a remarkable fellow – he pulls double duty serving the community not only as a firefighter for the city but also as a counselor at a local hospital. He’s probably one of the nicest and friendliest people you’ll ever meet and will help out at the drop of a hat. He was like this when he was in APO and he hasn’t changed. (Even though it looks like it, I’m not ass kissing – I think most everyone who knows him would agree.)

Even though we live about ten minutes apart, our paths don’t cross too often. He’s got two jobs, I’ve got to kids. The overlap is not very big. We’ll see him around town on duty, we’ve been by his old fire station, and we’ve had him over for a cookout. Not a whole lot of time there. Yet when I sent him a note last week asking for help the first thing I got was a list of days and times he was free – the first full day being Memorial Day. I called him, we chatted, and Monday it was.

He could have been at his girlfriend’s cookout or his parent’s pool, but he spent the whole day here helping me build leading me through building the set. I would read off directions, and before I know it he’s setting the screws. I found myself quickly trying to keep up, because if I wasn’t careful he would have wound up building the thing by himself. As much as I tried not to make it so, he still probably ended up doing about 60-65% of the work. I should also mention that he came over Monday after getting off a 24-hour shift at the fire hall.

Like I said, we didn’t get finished on Monday, leaving about a half-dozen tasks to complete on Tuesday. After doing all that he did on Monday, he was still willing to come by last night (after working a day shift at the hospital) to help make sure that those half-dozen tasks got finished.

We kept him fed all day& night Monday and I’ve committed myself to him for whatever
projects he needs in the future, but even that isn’t enough. I’m not sure if there’s enough gratitude in the world that I can give to him. And it’s not just about the playset either. Brian is one of those selfless people we hear so much about but never seem to find when we’re looking for. He helps people out with whatever they need, and he does it without hesitation and with a smile.  He’s dedicated and does what he does without any unseen motivations.  He’s genuine.  I wish I had half the personal strength he has (and even just 10% of his physical strength). We need more Brians in this world.

I know you probably won’t see this since only a handful of people know about this site, but I cannot say it enough.

Thank you, Mr. Tolka.

Last time I checked, we got a four day weekend around Memorial Day to relax after a long spring at work. Not this camper. My “time off” was pretty much spent working hard and doing manual labor that a 40-hour desk jockey doesn’t do. (Well, there’s also the part about reflecting and giving thanks to those who gave everything so we could live in peace and freedom, but like every other holiday on the calendar this one has pretty much been prostituted too.) Saturday and Sunday were spent with my new best friend, the Troy-Bilt tiller. What a neat little piece of machinery. Tears through old crusty dirt in no time. I acquired it in order to prep our side yard for the playset my in-laws got me as a graduation gift. Being the kind and loving father I am, I decided to donate it to the kids.

But being West Virginia, it’s first necessary to carve out flat land from the side of a hill. Starting bright and early Monday morning the wood & screws started flying with the help of my good friend Brian (without whom I could not have done this), and if all the parts in the instruction manual were actually in the box we might have finished on Monday, instead of going from 10am to 8pm and still having work to do Tuesday. Still, we got 99% done last night and the kids have already played on it this morning. Garrett’s eyes were brighter this morning looking out the window that they were at Christmas. That makes the sore muscles loosen up a bit.

We also worked Sunday to level up the spot where we keep the pop-up pool. Good thing we spent an hour or two prepping the land, cleaning out all the winter gunk, and inflating the ring. That makes finding all those tiny cat claw marks in the ring after the fact – not to mention watching the ring slowly deflate – so much cheerier.

It’s not often that I miss Charlotte. Don’t get me wrong – I like the city, but just figured out that I didn’t want to raise a family there. However, this past week is one of the times when it would be nice to be back – Race Week. From the All-Star race to Speed Street and the World 600, it’s one of the most entertaining weeks in town. I find myself watching the background of the race coverage, pointing out most of the seats I’ve sat in at the track or noticing what Uptown location looks different on TV.

They’ve been working like crazy over at Mountaineer Field trying to get the new turf down in time for the start of youth football camps in mid-June. Looks like the hit a snag yesterday…the new turf for the endzone is not Mountaineer Blue. Oops. For all the things a million bucks can buy in this world, apparently it cannot buy a sample paint chip at Lowes.

Did I mention I’m not used to backbreaking manual labor?

In anticipation of another big season of Mountaineer football, MSNSportsnet.com is playing video of highlights & signature games of yesterday. Right now, it’s the 1993 Miami game…a game that helped put WVU back on the national map by knocking off the #4 rated Hurricanes and was a huge part of both an undefeated regular season and the first Big East title determined through a regular conference schedule. True to Nehlen form, the bowl game would be choked away once again against Florida. But the signature to the season had already come.

I was a freshman that season and at this game, with decent seats a section in from the fence and one row behind a tunnel opening…perhaps 35 or 40 yard line. The student section was packed in like sardines hours before the main gates opened, and it was a blustery day. Copies of the DA were being tossed in the air and clouds of the things flew up and over the back of the stadium. I can only imagine what Willowdale looked like. 14 years later I remember little about the game beyond Robert Walker’s TD run, but I do remember how great the feeling was after the game. And without this win, Ed Hill’s TD in the back of the BC end zone at Chestnut Hill over Thanksgiving break wouldn’t have been nearly as memorable.

MSN SportsNet – Miami 1993

I would have put up some pics that we took last Saturday, but someone (and it’s not like us to call out anybody here) can’t find the camera cable, so until we pick up a card reader the pictures are landlocked on the camera. So here’s a couple of professional pics.

This would be me and the dean at the moment of magic. Guests weren’t allowed on the floor of the Coliseum during the ceremonies, so the University – in an unusual spirit of giving – had a photographer in front of the stage taking pictures that were available for (gasp!!!) free downloading on wvu.edu! Go Team! Yes, that’s a real degree in the envelope.

This one is pretty cool. The public relations guy from B&E was running around all night before,during, and after taking pictures. He had worked with a few of us MIS graduates earlier in the week so we were able to get a little more face time with his lens. During the actual graduation one of our MIS professors served as the University Marshall (or something like that) in place of the President. Well, part of his regalia was to wear this really funny hat that looked like a mushroom…which looked even crazier in Gold & Blue. As anyone would naturally expect, all of us MIS guys were incessantly mocking him backstage. (To which his response was something like “back off- if I don’t put this little staff on the stage, you guys don’t graduate. It makes the ceremony official.”) After the ceremony and debriefing with the family, Jen said that even Garrett recognized him as “the mushroom guy.” (That’s him, Dr. Graham Peace, the slightly off focus guy on the right….straight out of his Super Mario Brothers cameo.) Since he’s part of the MIS family, I told Garrett that he’d get to meet the mushroom guy at the B&E reception. At the reception we brought Dr. Peace over, told him the story, and Garrett got to wear the mushroom hat. Tim, the PR guy, was close by but couldn’t get Garrett’s picture. We tried everything to get Garrett to put the hat back on, but he refused. Then we asked if he’d wear my hat for a picture, and the end result is above.

Mental note for the kiddies – doing dumb stuff to ones body can cause stupid pain and annoyances.  Case in point – I was being a dumbass and decided to pick at a hangnail on my toe last week rather than get the clippers and do it right.  Complicating factor – it starts infecting, puffing up and filling with ugly pus.  End of the line – I’m cutting grass on Saturday, walking on the toe and creating more pain through the constant pressure when my wife notices the limp.  After much chiding of my stupidity, I went to the doc yesterday so they could poke a hole in it, drain out the pus (this nasty, off-white bile), and give me antibiotics for the infection and warm salt soaks to clean out the toe.

Today the swelling and discomfort is down.  Good thing, too – my sister-in-law lost part of her finger in a similar episode. By the time it was treated the infection was too bad.

Kids, don’t try this at home.