New roof and gutters

Here's the 'before' from the back yard.

Here is the 'after.' Notice the gutter on the back porch. It is now moved to the other side away from the back door.

The roof shingles are much lighter in color though still green.  And there is now a roof vent line at the peak.  Attic ventilation is required by code now.  I decided a peak vent would look better than having those square vents every.

I chose regular flat asphalt shingles instead of the now popular architectural shingles.  I like the flatness of this type shingle. Architectural shingles have too much texture for my little house.

This is the front 'before' picture.

And this is the front 'after' picture.

The front gutter has been moved from the side of the house where I had to step over it for the past nearly 20 years.

It now is located where you see it in this picture.  At the corner of the front porch where it will drain into the front garden.

In the shade, the roof color looks almost the same as before.

Adopt-a-Highway thanks

Many many "thanks" to Rose, Amy, Bunny, Marlin, Kay, Corky, Rachel and Christine for the spring Tall Boy's Fan Club adopt-a-highway cleanup.

Once again the north bound side was a mess. That's the side of the road headed out of Elk River.

It was the most gorgeous day to be outdoors.

Home from Cincinnati

A very long evening of travel last night. Left client site in Blue Ash around 5:15pm eastern time and got home just before midnight central time. It was partially self-inflicted because I flew American Airlines and had to connect through Chicago.

Cincinnati was warm...matter of fact near record breaking warm on Wednesday.

The biggest and most interesting story is finding evidence of other Alspaughs. The woman who set up my access to the client's wireless internet told me that my last name is the same as her mother's maiden name! That has never happened before. Her mother's name is Roberta and I don't know anyone on my dad's side of the family with that name.

Stayed at the Doubletree in Blue Ash which has a really large maccaw in the lobby. The picture is a bit blurry because he was swinging on his swing. This guy was not particularly friendly. He would have been pleased with himself if he could have gotten a piece of you.

The redbud trees were in bloom everywhere and so beautiful. The Cincinnati airport is actually in nothern Kentucky on the south side of the Ohio River. The drive from the airport to the city is quite lovely. Very hilly on the Kentucky side with the hillsides covered in trees with the redbuds splash of red and purple-pink.

Home today...gone tomorrow

Working from home today, Monday. But tomorrow I'm back on the road to a new destination.

Traveling to Cincinnati, Ohio via Chicago O'Hare. It'll be two smaller planes to get there and leaving super early from MSP....6am...ugh.

I think the client I'm visiting is actually in Blue Ash outside of Cinci. I need to do some research.

Take the Civil Literacy Quiz

Try the Civil Literacy Quiz from Intercollegiate Studies Institute.

I scored 75.76% which was barely above the April average. Once you click Submit it takes quite a while for the results to come back. I'm figuring Amy and Bunny would be keen to take this.

Mom, the quiz doesn't work on Web TV

Uno - Her Sleepiness

Uno's turn for cute sleeping picture.  She loves to lie in the sun and the best spot is on the back porch.

Here she is sleeping before she realized I was there.  Her hand is covering her eyes.

Now she's got her eyes open and still sprawled on her back.

His Sleepiness

Frankie can sleep in almost any position.

Ahh, so peaceful.