Archive for the ‘Reflection’ Category

Celebrating our 11th anniversary – Part 2

Posted on the September 21st, 2009 under Personal,Reflection by Al

For our formal anniversary dinner, we took a train ride. Not on any old train, but on an old electric train. We didn’t take the train to get to our dinner destination; dinner was on the train. The train departed from the East Troy Electric Railway and Train Museum in East Troy, Wisconsin which features award-winning dinner train service on the railroad’s Art Deco diner twins, Ravenswood and Beverly Shores. We dined on the Beverly Shores (#24), which was built in 1927, rebuilt in the 1940′s and restored in 1995.

The train ride was two hours long and stopped at Phantom Lake, where we caught the sunset, before it returned to the train museum.

Photos below (or go to www.degutis.com/blog)

Celebrating our 11th anniversary – Part 1

Posted on the September 18th, 2009 under Personal,Reflection by Al

We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary on September 13, 2009. Since we had plans to go out for a formal anniversary dinner on Saturday the 19th, we decided to do something we haven’t done in 7 years or more. We went canoeing.

While on the Kishwaukee River (“The Kish”) it dawned on me that canoeing on our anniversary was apropos.

Canoeing, like a marriage, takes teamwork. One person can do all the paddling, but that wears a person down quickly. Sharing the work not only eases the burden, but can also speed things along.

Canoeing also requires a coordinated effort. If both people paddle on the same side of the canoe, it will veer to the other side. Getting to the destination requires teamwork.

Here are some photos from our canoe trip. Unfortunately, not pictured is the eagle that flew overhead.

The Twitter Tale of an Illinois Power Outage

Posted on the January 27th, 2009 under Funny,Personal,Reflection by Al

You may have seen the various Twitter reports of incidents as they’ve taken place, or shortly there after. The most recent, and most news worthy, is the account shortly after the US Airways plane landed safely in the Hudson River (Wall Street Journal post). A month earlier a Continental airplane slid off the runaway in Denver and the story unfolded via Mike Wilson’s Twitter account. Not all events are news worthy. Nonetheless even small, localized event are chronicled on Twitter as they occur.

On Monday January 26, 2009 a power outage occurred in parts of McHenry County, IL (Northwest Herald report). Below are the tweets that chronicled this event from a few Twitter users.

Power out in what looks like the whole neighborhood. Family all downstairs preparing for zombie attack. @rbieber (Woodstock, IL) 20:31

Power is out… what the heck. @jolisouci (Capron, IL) 20:32

so many candles lit I feel like I’m living the last scene in Carrie. @rbieber 20:35

WOW major power outage. Parts of Woodstock, IL and Capron, IL according to @rbieber and @jolisouci. Any other reports? @frumpa (Woodstock, IL) 20:41

Power is back on. Too bad I couldn’t pause this PBS special on Oppenheimer’s trial! @jolisouci 20:43

@jolisouci how long was power out for you. We only lost power for a minute but sounds like @rbieber is still in the dark (know what I mean?) @frumpa 20:44

Power outage longer than Linux server UPS lasts. There goes my uptime @rbieber 20:45

Jonna still doesn’t get this Twitter thing. She replies to me verbally. @rbieber 20:47

forgot to tell the family I was afraid of the dark. Panic setting in. @rbieber 20:48

Can’t breathe … Oh wait this is a power outage. Not stuck in space …  @rbieber 20:49

Dammit, I just put by Braille books in the basement yesterday. @rbieber 20:58

Dear god. I’m sorry for goofing on Ubuntu Christian Edition. Please turn the lights on now. @rbieber 21:04

Is in hell: power is out in the whole town and Ron is entertaining the family with ifart @jonna404  (Woodstock, IL) 21:06

I eat chocolate fudge pop tarts and drink Guiness – two things you can’t find in the dark. Just my luck. @rbieber 21:09

Power back on. @rbieber 21:12

@frumpa your power just went out? Ours was out for about an hour, came back at 9:10 @imps (Woodstock, IL) 22:00

There you have it, citizen’s journalism at it’s best.
Also, more information on the iFart app for the iPhone.
Posted by Al Degutis
More information on the iFart app for the iPhone here.

Once again

Posted on the April 9th, 2008 under Reflection by Judy

Interacted with another Barton employee and once again felt the tinge of tears and emotion well up inside. Just when I thought I had moved past that stage.  I realize now that I may never be over it. Barton was a great place to work and the people there are great. They were a part of my life for many years and I will always feel that tug of emotion when I think about them or interact with them, because I care. I know they feel the same, that’s just the way it was there. Like family.