Some Blog Site

Continuation of a previous post

Note: Most pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Duck Races

The pools at the hotel didn’t open right away in the morning. But at the middle pool, Klondike Kavern, they had a duck race (the “Ken-Ducky Derby”) for the kids a half hour before the pool opened. Klondike Kavern had the race because it has the lazy river feature, which the other pools do not have.

The duck race works like this:

• Each child chooses a small rubber ducky and a staff member writes his name on it
• The starter staff member dumps all the ducks at once in the lazy river
• The finish-line staff member waits about 30 feet down the lazy river and grabs the first 3 ducks to reach him. Those are the winners.

They ran about four races, and each of our kids had a duck, so we ended up winning twice. The prizes were all the same, I think – plastic duck calls.

Duck Tour 1

We decided the night before that we should go on the duck tour. Otherwise, our trip to Wisconsin Dells would not be complete. The Tommy Bartlett show would have been fun to watch, but they hadn’t opened for the season yet. There were some other things, but we were planning on stopping at the museum and aquarium in Chicago on our way back home, so we didn’t look at anything museumish or aquariumish (or zooish).

That left waterparks (been there) or hiking (done that) or the duck tours. The first one we saw, brochure-wise, was the Original WWII Dells Army Ducks. So we decided to go there. I pulled into the parking lot. It looked rather sparse, but it was the off-peak season. My wife got out and asked the ticket booth about times and availability.

She came back shaking her head. “They are running only at noon and 3:00“. If I were running a place with the word “Army” in it, then all times would be in military format: 1200 and 1500, not noon and 3. It was only 10:10. We didn’t have any other plans to fill almost two hours of waiting, so we drove to the other duck tour place.

Duck Tour 2

It turns out that they are also original – the Original Wisconsin Ducks. It was my turn to get out and walk to the ticket booth and ask about times and availabilities. So that’s what I did.

The lady there said they ran every half hour. Every half hour? No waiting? By the time we got the kids out of the van and loaded into the duck, that would use most of that half hour. “I’ll be right back, with the family” I told her.

Now they said they ran every half hour. The key part of that is “said”. They didn’t start for about 45 minutes. I think they meant that the tours are scheduled for every half hour, or they would like to run every half hour, or they’ll run every half hour that there are enough people. But it was a little misleading to say they ran every half hour. Because I’m sure if no one was on board, they would not take out the duck.

The duck tour itself was 1 hour long. It was a nice warm day, the breeze was blowing gently in our faces and the engine was humming along. It was a good way to spend an hour. Gamma napped for about 50 of the 60 minutes. It’s okay because his ticket was free.

Here is my view during the land part of the tour:

And here is my view during the water part of the tour:

Of course, that was the straight-ahead view. Most of the time I was looking out one side or the other.

Note: take a few dollars cash because the drivers do take (and ask for in a roundabout way) tips. I did not bring any cash on the duck tour, otherwise I probably would have given him a tip. So, Pat, the duck tour driver who attends University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse and plays football there, don’t take it personally that I didn’t leave you a tip. You did a fine job, but all I had was my credit card and you were not getting that.

Side Note: the duck tour place is across the street from Mt. Olympus. That is a water park/theme park/resort thingy. It is noteworthy because of the Trojan horse. It is about 5 or 6 stories high and is a fairly accurate replica, at least if all the drawings I’ve seen are close. It is, I think, the one item that represents how touristy the area is.

The website’s description of the horse is amusing: “the horse, where brave men once lay in wait to attack the Trojans“. Makes it sound like they have the original.

Duck!

The afternoon and evening were spent in the pools and playland. I already posted some pictures of the pools, so this post will contain pictures of the playland.

The playland was next to the arcade and was in the section close to our room. The playland was a large version of the play areas that are not uncommon in certain restaurants or as stand-alone businesses – kids climb up stairs and cushioned passageways and everything has netting around it to prevent escapes.

But this one had a large open area in the middle. And that area contained hundreds of foam balls. And it contained hoses and blowers and compressed air and switches.

The kids could load the balls into a cannon and shoot them across the room. The second story of this place had several air cannons, spaced around a circle. And you could aim them. Put a ball in the side, aim the cannon, press the red button on the end, and the ball would fly fairly accurately across the structure. Some of the cannons were larger and could handle multiple balls at once, if you wanted to get all MIRV-y on people.

Most of the foam balls were on the ground floor. The kids started by picking up as many as they could and taking them up to the second story (there were no “shooters” on the ground floor – only fixed cannons that aimed up) Eventually they discovered that there were a few “stoves” that just blew the foam balls up to the second story. But it kept them busy and they were usually upset only when we had to leave.

The playland was nice because the kids didn’t require constant attention, like they did at the pool. We could sit and watch them. We could relax (and not worry about swimming skills) and they could have fun.

I saved $500 yesterday!

At least by congressional accounting standards…

In reality, I spent $500 less than I could have spent, than I expected to spend. Although, in theory, since I could spend an infinite amount of money (theory, remember), I am saving an infinite amount of money every day.

You may be wondering what this is all about. Or you may have lost interest and stopped reading already, in which case you are not seeing this sentence and it is pointless for me to keep typ

We had no hot water yesterday morning, which was not a good thing. Showering with unheated well water is a good way to get frostbite annoyed hypothermia. I checked the circuit breaker (electric water heater) and checked the valves and everything was fine. I opened the panel on the heater to check the thermostat.

I was already in my work clothes (shirt and tie) and getting ready to head out the door. When I opened the panel on the water heater and saw just a bunch of insulation, I knew I had two choices:

1. Try to dig deeper, which would mean missing the morning of work and I would probably have to call a plumber anyway or
2. Just go to work like normal and call the plumber right away.

A little background here to set the context a little bit:
I moved into this house about 10 years ago. The average lifespan of an electric water heater is 7-10 years. The water heater was old when I moved into the house.

All that, combined with the fact that hard water (we have a softener, but it can do only so much) reduces the life of a water heater, meant that I figured it was the water heater’s time to go. (In case you’re wondering, it’s the fridge’s turn to quit next. Since I’ve been at the house I got a new stove, dishwasher, washer and dryer, water softener, and had to have the furnace repaired. The only major appliances left are the fridge and water heater. And the well pump, but I don’t want to think about that).

So I informed my wife that I would call the plumber and get it fixed that day.

I called our normal plumber. He called back a couple hours later and said he was swamped. “Do you have a meter?” he asked. “You could check the thermostat to make sure it hasn’t tripped.”

“I could do that, but I’m not home.”

He agreed that maybe I should call our other plumber then.

Our other plumber said he’d be able to get there that afternoon. That sounded to me like it would be done before the day was over, so we arranged for that.

He called my cell phone in the mid-afternoon. He told me that he was on his way over and wanted the exact address and nearest intersection. I told him, then quickly hung up and called my wife so she would know he would be there in a few minutes.

Of course, the one time that day she could find to nap was right around that time. I think my call awakened her. She scrambled downstairs, only to find the plumber pulling into our driveway already.

My wife called a bit later – “Okay, it’s fixed and he’s gone. I gave him a check for $120.”

Our furnace guy charged about $75 for house calls. For plumbers, it turns out, it’s $60 to make the house call and $60 per hour of labor (minimum of 1 hour labor charge no matter what’s done).

I figured that $120 to fix a broken water heater was not too bad of a deal. My wife helped when she told me that the plumber said we were lucky, because a new water heater would run about $600.

That’s where the $500 savings comes into play.

Then came the revelation that ruined my happy thoughts of avoiding house maintenance: “Yeah, all he needed to do was push the reset button on the water heater.”

Oy!

A $120 bill for that?

If only there hadn’t been that insulation in the way and I had seen a reset button on the water heater. Why couldn’t it have been a big, red, prominent reset button like on our furnace? But nooooo…

The plumber said that the water heater is 22 years old. The newer heaters are smaller and lighter, we were informed. I’m sure they are smaller and lighter. I’m also sure that they won’t last 22 years. Ours is built like a tank (yes, a water heater tank).

I’m considering the $120 as like an insurance policy. Because if I hadn’t paid it, I would have spent all morning in the basement trying to replace heating elements.

That would have been much worse for everyone involved.

And probably some people who weren’t involved.

I just had to remind myself a few times yesterday to think of the big picture – you wanted to pay a plumber to fix the water heater, and now it’s fixed. Mission accomplished.

I subscribe to World Magazine. The cover a few issues ago had an advertisement that tried to get my attention.

I ignored the ad until I had finished the issue. Then I looked at the Rubik’s-like puzzle that they used as the centerpiece of the ad. And, being the good engineer that I am, I tried to solve it

But I couldn’t solve it because it was wrong. I found 8 and a half things wrong with it.

(more…)

Devil’s Lake

We hit the pools in the morning and then, after Gamma’s nap and lunch in the room, headed out to Devil’s Lake State Park for the afternoon.

Devil’s Lake is a lake surrounded by hills and rocks and trees. Very scenic. The local DNR has done a good job renovating the lake, as there was no trace of any fire or brimstone. Not even any scorch marks anywhere. “Devil’s Lake” is quite the misnomer in this case.

We started with a hike down one of the easier trails. It’s hard to push a stroller on rough paths. Then the boys decided they wanted to try one of the steep paths (Pothole Trail, in case you have a trail map). Wife and Gamma hiked it for a minute, then decided against it and went back down. Alpha and Beta (and I) made it about 2/3 of the way up.

Then they gave up and went back down, where all 3 of them played on the rocks as we walked back to the lake.

My wife, always thinking ahead, had packed water and granola bars, so we sat by the lake and enjoyed a snack. The boys enjoyed seeing some minnows, and it was all rather peaceful.

Dinner

Then we went back into the Dells. Some more hotel and some down time, then out to eat! Dinner that night was at a restaurant. The wife had planned ahead and we brought a cooler full of food. So until this point in the vacation, we had not set foot in a restaurant (or gone through a drive-through place either) (or drive-thru). She had seen an ad or something for Buffalo Phil’s. She thought it would be a fun place because the ad said that a train delivers your food. We got in there and, sure enough, there was a model train (of a larger scale) that went from next to the kitchen, past a few tables, and back to the kitchen.

However, the tables that were next to the train were full, so we sat at a table that was served by a plain ol’ waiter guy. I’m pretty sure the train does not expect tips, so it should be slightly cheaper to sit there.

The food was plentiful, as evidenced by my meal:

That was a buffalo burger, which had buffalo meat for the burger part, and bacon, and pulled pork. I don’t know why they needed pulled pork on it, but I didn’t mind.

We learned something at the restaurant: restaurant cups with lids and without straws are an acceptable substitute for sippy cups. Albeit slightly messier.

Then back to the hotel, another round of waterpark fun, and then to bed.

Coming soon…Day 3

Continuation of a previous post

Note: Most pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Arrival

After running the gauntlet of tollbooths that stood between us and Wisconsin Dells, we were ready to be done driving. It was a little over 7 hours of driving; with stops it took a little over 9 hours total. We arrived in the late afternoon or early evening. It’s hard to tell which was which because of the time change.

Our destination was The Wilderness. Orwell would be proud of this place (officially called Wilderness Resort), because there was not much in the way of wilderness at this self-proclaimed “America’s largest waterpark resort”.

If you look up “wilderness” in the dictionary (which I did not do), you should not see that it means waterparks, arcades, golf courses, laser tag, and a spa. But they tried to have some rustic decor.

Check-In

The person at the front desk did all the check-in stuff and we thought we were all set. Then he said “But wait, there’s one more thing. You need a parking pass.” Makes sense, so give us the parking pass then. But no, we needed to see the concierge for that.

The concierge did give us our parking pass, but not before she told about the local outlet mall, a couple local restaurants, and the condos available for sale. And to entice us to hear more about the condos for sale, she told us how we could get a few hundred dollars worth of gift cards and coupons. The real estate office is right next to the children’s activity area, so they can be occupied while the adults have the opportunity to listen to a sales pitch.

That’s right, the sales pitch for the sales pitch meeting is part of the check-in process at the hotel. Note: if your hotel/resort has a “real estate” section of its website, be wary.

Waterpark

After a quick tour of our area (there were 3 areas in our hotel and about 3 hotels in the resort), we had time to play in the pool (for which the kids were quite eager).

We were closest to the Wild West Waterpark, but Alpha’s favorite was Klondike Kavern. That was because Klondike Kavern has the Hurricane.

What is the Hurricane?

Let’s start with the view out our window:

And then let’s zoom in:

Do you see that 4-story green and white funnel? That’s the Hurricane. You walk up 4 flights of stairs, get in a raft, and then slide down 4 flights of adrenaline.

And then you repeat, because Alpha wants to go again. He hasn’t been on a roller coaster yet, but the Hurricane provides the exact same pit-of-your-stomach sensation, so I’m sure he’s ready.

Here’s the inside of the Hurricane. See that small yellow thing? That’s a 4-person raft.

Cost

Our room was nice. It had two queen beds plus a pull-out couch, plus various other amenities. We got the room for under $100 each night. You may wonder how the resort can do that.
The answer has a few parts:

• the “resort fee” is not included in that price. What is the resort fee? It is about $10 a day and helps cover expenses and keeps the listed room rates low (kind of like shipping and handling charges on eBay),
• the outdoor pools and waterparks were not open, because the outdoor season does not start until Memorial Day. That meant we could use only half of America’s largest waterpark resort, which was good enough for the 3 nights we were there, and
• the Wild Waterdome was closed for cleaning/sealing. That didn’t have much, other than America’s largest indoor wave pool and indoor tanning. But the kids don’t like wave pools, so we wouldn’t have been in there a lot anyway.

Then we went to bed – a bit of a struggle with the kids all excited and everyone in the same room – and got ready for day 2.

To be continued…

I need things that do not require maintenance.

I sold the lawn mower and now pay the neighbor boy to mow my lawn.

I buy disposable paint brushes because then I don’t have to clean them.

The central air for our house, though, is a different matter. We do not want to be without that, so I thought I would try to take care of it.

Some stores sell covers for the AC condenser. That’s the part with the fan that sits outside. Since the fan won’t work so well with leaves and snow in it, the theory is that the condenser should be covered during fall and winter. On the other hand, the condenser does have a screen to keep out leaves and the snow should melt before the condenser it used, so a cover isn’t necessary. But it might help it to last longer and a cover is cheap, so why not?

In the fall, I put the cover over the condenser. It did a fine job of protecting the AC from the elements. The condenser lives behind the house and we don’t normally see it.

Which means I forgot the cover was still on when I turned on the AC on the first warm day.

I remembered I had installed the air conditioner cover when I saw some fabric sitting in the side yard. It turns out that the fan inside the condenser is powerful enough to remove most covers.

I now avoid any maintenance items that I need to remember to undo.

And the condenser will have to learn to live with leaves and snow.

It is now the start of the summer quarter, so I am changing my WordPress theme. Normally I change just the background photo to reflect the season, but this time I made a whole new theme.

It looks like a Lego WordPress theme. You might be tempted to refer to it as a Lego theme for my blog. It is, in fact, a generic brick-based building-system theme (compatible with all major brick-based building systems – Lego, Mega Blocks, umm…Lego, etc.).

I am still tweaking things, so you may notice things changing slightly over the next week or two.