A Post About "Nothing" ?

Hey everyone. I know I need to write a post but I really don't have much to share this week. 

I don't know how Jerry Seinfeld and his staff and cast spent 9 seasons on "Seinfeld" writing and performing shows about "nothing". 

It's easy to handle nothing when you're a kid. How many times does a parent ask a kid, "what did you do in school today?" and they answer "Nothing" and that's the end of it. 

Some people can deal with nothing and some people can't. I'm pretty sure I fall on the side of the latter. 

My wife has been saying for years that at times she wishes she could get me to just sit back and do nothing. Like when we are on vacation, sitting on the beach, or at home watching TV. I just can't seem to deal with doing "Nothing". 

Having "Nothing" to write about is the task ahead of me, if I'm going to publish this post (and if you are reading this I have). 

My wife was home all week dealing with a health issue that took a while to get a handle on. So I spent most of the week taking care of her.  

She's improving and on her way to recovering. Now it's just a matter of regaining her strength and catching up on the sleep she missed during the nights she didn't feel well.

When one is in a situation where there is really nothing to discuss it is conventional to go to two sources: the weather or sports. I have no idea what the temperature is or what the forecast in your area of the country may be so...here comes the sports.  

First up is the baseball playoffs. The Yankees made an amazing comeback against the #1 seed in the American League, the Cleveland Indians. 

As far as I'm concerned they are now playing with "house money". They weren't expected to get this far. So they've already proven themselves. 

Of course I will be disappointed if they don't win the World Series but I will also be satisfied with how they've over achieved this year as well. 

The 2017-18 NHL season has only just started but the Nashville Predators have already played one of the most exciting hockey games I've ever seen. Last Tuesday their home opener was against the Philadelphia Flyers. 

Late in the 3rd period they trailed 5-3. With 1:17 left in the game, they got a pair of 5 on 3 power plays. They scored 2 goals in 41 seconds and won.  
It promises to be another exciting season for the Nashville hockey team; their 20th. 

I'm about to start building an Lego Expert modular building, The Plaza Theater. 

I've had this set since December 2015 and am only getting around to it just now. 

It's by far the largest set, in regard to number of pieces, 2169, that I've ever put together. I will share pictures of my progress and the finished result as I complete it. 

In my September 29th post I wrote about going to grandparent's day at my granddaughter's school. It was a unique experience seeing her there for the first time. 

This past week I saw her again in the school setting in a couple of ways. 

First, I saw her first school picture. This isn't the best copy but its the one I got. 

Then this past Thursday, I saw her in a picture on the Facebook page of a local TV station. Their weatherman posted a picture where he had visited Aria's class to teach them about preparing for the weather. Can you find Aria? 

This weekend my wife and I got to do our favorite thing...

This little guy and his big sister spent some time with us at our house. 

He enjoyed playing with the magnets on our refrigerator just like Aria did when she was his age. 

Aria played with her new toy, a character from My Little Pony (her favorite cartoon) made as a Rubick's Cube type puzzle.

We got her a Happy Meal from McDonald's for her supper (her request not our idea) which came with a My Little Pony toy. It allowed her to become her favorite character, Rainbow Dash. 

And of course her Papa had to try it on too. 

The most fun we had was when we were together in my office playing instruments and enjoying the music. 

In the middle of each of these moments I took some time to mentally take a step back and appreciate the moments for, not only what they were, but what great memories they will be as they grow up. 

Today, the month is half over. But there is still a lot to happen in October. 

This coming weekend my grandson is going to turn a year old. Some of my family who live in Pennsylvania are traveling down to help us celebrate. 

I am going to be attending a seminar, in Nashville, that will help me get started doing something I've been wanting to for a couple of years now. 

Then of course there's all the events and happenings surrounding and on Halloween. 

As I go back and read over what I've written in this post I realized something. This post isn't about "nothing"; it's about my life. Something I've always written about since I started this blog 9 years ago. 

Since life is truly the ultimate blessing from our Creator it is far from "nothing". In fact it's just the opposite, it's everything. So I have added a question mark to the title of this post. 

That's all for now. I've got to go find more things to write about. But I guess that's life, huh? 





  




  

Ordinary October...So Far

It's been about a week since my last post. So far things in October have been rather ordinary at least for me. You might say that it's been an "Ob-La-De Ob-La-Da" 8 days for me because, to put it simply, life goes on.

Here's what I've been up to, lately.   

On the last day of September my wife and I took our granddaughter to "Smiths Grove Days" here in town. Of course she wanted to get her face painted. 

Later in the day we all took a walk to the end of our street so that she could feed the neighbor's horses. 

She spent the night with us and most of the next day before her mom picked her up. Those type of visits are memory builders for all of us. 

On the following Friday, the 6th, instead of going to the Nashville zoo with them, as planned, I got to spend time with Aria and Gabriel in their playroom at their house. We had a good time playing together.   

Monday, October 2, was anything but ordinary. That morning I woke up to the horrible news of the shootings in Las Vegas. 

As the details were coming in, it got worse and worse. Over 600 people hit, 58 dead. Hundreds of Iives have been changed forever. 

The stories of heroics and self-sacrifices from that horrible night are what proves that the human spirit will always ultimately triumph over unthinkable evil. 

I'm just the writer of a simple blog I'm not a real political man. However I do have my own humble opinions in regard to all of the things surrounding this tragedy. 

The one thing I will say is that what we've been told about the man responsible just doesn't match up with his actions. Something just doesn't add up. The scale and level of this attack simply cannot be the work of just one man. 

Even if he was the only one to bring the arsenal of guns into the hotel room and open fire on those 22,000 innocent people; those who assisted him in any way, shape, or form are culpable as well.  

When it comes to buying into conspiracy theories (on a scale of 1-10) I'm about a 5. But for me, based on some of the reports I've seen online there's more to this attack than we are being told. We probably will never know the whole truth. That's all I have to say about that. 

The rest of the week was spent mostly at home taking care of things around the house. 

My son, James, celebrated his 29th birthday on the 5th. Because I try my best to make sure my family members have cake or some kind of their favorite baked goods on their birthday, I made a pan of the brownies he likes, just for him. I took them over to his house the afternoon of the 4th.  


Also in October I find myself back into the habit of working on my Lego kits again. 

Here are the 3 models I assembled last week...

 A representative of The New York City Skyline (Lego Architecture #21028) ...

 ...a miniature Double Decker Bus              (Lego Creator # 40220)...

...two versions of the Toy & Grocery Store (Lego Creator 31036).

I also changed my Lego Calendar display to an October theme. 

The "Doberman Gang" dvd set I mentioned in my last post arrived during the week. I watched both movies. Even though the movie was much worse than I remembered (the dogs are better actors than the humans) I still liked the idea of the film and love the theme song. I learned that it was the first film scored by Academy Award winning composer, Alan Silvestri.  

The second movie, The Daring Dobermans, which was released a year after the first one, is basically a repeat of the same story. 

The only thing I found the least bit interesting about it was that a 23 year old Tim Considine was one of the main co-stars. 

Some of you older folks may remember Considine as a child star for Walt Disney productions. He played in the Mickey Mouse Club serial, The Adventures of Spin & Marty, as well as the film, The Shaggy Dog. 

As a teenager he played, Mike, the oldest of the Douglas boys in the 60s sit-com, My Three Sons.   

This past weekend was a quiet one for us here at the Havens homestead. We caught up on the new seasons of our favorite shows: Scorpion, NCIS, Law & Order: SVU, Criminal MInds, Designated Survivor, Gotham, and This Is Us. We also finished the first season of the Netflix series, "The Crown."  

In addition we watched 2 movies that we missed in the theaters: "Money Monster" from 2016 and "Prisoners" from 2013. If you want to find out about them you can look them up on IMDB. They were entertaining but I'm glad we didn't spend money going to the theater to see them. 

Finally, I have to mention that this week the New York Yankees started their 2017 playoff run. Now I know this may not seem like a big deal but it is to me. I live or die with the Bronx Bombers in the playoffs. They win, I am euphoric. They lose I get depressed. During the games I get stressed and frustrated. I can't help it I'm a life long fan. 

I first felt the sting of disappointment as a Yankees fan at the age of 15 when during the last week of the 1975 season they were eliminated from making the playoffs. 

The next year I experienced the joy of victory as Chris Chambliss hit a history making pennant winning walk off home run off Mark Littell of Kansas City Royals. It sent the Yankees to the World Series for the first time in 10 years.  

Even a disappointing 4 game sweep in the Fall Classic by the Big Red Machine of Cincinnati couldn't dim the feeling of success I experienced as a Yankees fan that season. 

Now it's more than 50 years later and I'm just as, if not more, emotionally tied to the Yankees when they are in the playoffs. I don't expect them to make it to the World Series but I hope they do win at least one series and make a decent showing in the ALCS. Only time will tell. 

As I write this post they are facing elimination in their American League Division Series with the Cleveland Indians. I don't know what's going to happen but whatever does I will be there to see and feel it. 

Before I end this post I just want to welcome those of you who are reading my blog for the first time. I have become aware that I am getting a little higher rate of page views on a daily basis. This means more new readers are coming aboard. I appreciate those of you who have shared this blog with others. I'll try my best to keep on posting so you'll keep coming back. 

   

Trivia Quiz Wrap Up & More

It's time to wrap up my "Another 5,000 Views Post Quiz Contest". I would like to thank all of those who went back and checked out the past posts that were part of this quiz. 

Before I announce the winner, let's review the questions and give you the answers. 

Question 1: Where in Chicago did I unexpectedly find a Realistic brand cassette tape recorder?

Answer: As I shared in my September 12, 2012 post, I saw one in a display in the American Girl doll store. 

Question 2. While in Chicago, Paula and I went to see the Yankees play the White Sox. What Yankee had 4 hits in that game including a home run?

Answer: Since this is question 2 the answer is #2, future hall of famer, "The Captain", Derek Jeter. 

In my September 4, 2012 post I recapped the game we saw at US. Cellular Field including Jeter's 4 for 4 night which was just a triple short of the cycle. 

Question 3.This is a two-part question. 

What is the name of the fountain I saw in Grant Park while visiting Chicago and on what 1990s TV show was the fountain seen as part of the program's opening?   

Answer: Buckingham Fountain is located in Grant Park in the Windy City. 

And it appears in the opening 5 seconds of the 1990s Fox sit-com: Married With Children. 

Question 4.In September 2012 I got a new job. In what town was my new job located? 

Answer: In my September 25, 2012 post I wrote that my 3 month search for a new job was over. I would be working in the town of Glasgow, KY.  

Question 5.Whose story did I share in my last post of 2012?

Answer: I put up my last post for the year 2012 on October 14 (I can't remember why it was my last but it was). I told the astounding story of something that happened to a family who went to my church. I gave them the pseudonyms: Paul, Tina, and Suzie Whitaker. 

As I reread the post while preparing my quiz, I was once again touched by the remarkable way that God took care of Paul through their whole ordeal. If you haven't already, highly recommend that you go back and reread this post. 

So there you have the answers to my past post quiz.   

I have chosen a winner and notified him by email. He has asked to remain anonymous and I will respect his request for privacy. But I can use his initials. So congratulations to A.J. from Florida. I'm sure you'll enjoy the music purchased with the $15 I-Tunes card.  

And now for the "& More" part of this post. I want to show you my latest in Lego. 

Just last night I finished assembling one of the coolest Lego kits I own. It's from the Lego Architecture product line. It is part of the series of Lego interpretations of the skylines of major cities around the world. This one is the New York City skyline. 

 Represented in this model are the NYC landmarks: (left to right) The Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Flatiron Building, and One World Trade Center. 

I have a larger model of both the Flatiron and Empire State buildings. As I put this set together I couldn't help but wonder if there will ever be a Lego Architecture set of the original World Trade Center towers. I would love to have one as a memorial to all they represent. But I doubt that will ever happen. 

Again, thanks to everyone who took part in my 5000K quiz. Keep reading the blog I'm sure there will be another give away soon.