Friday, 11-28-97

Wow!!! What a surprise. When we went to bed last night the weather turned exciting. We had lightning, thunder, and RAIN big time. It was great. Each time a storm cell moved over us, the rain came down as if it was coming from a fire hose. At one time, the street gutters had so much water flowing in them; it sounded as if we were camping next to a mountain stream. I liked going to sleep with all the fun weather sounds.

We took our time getting out of bed this morning. I always find it nice to sleep-in on a rainy morning. It rained lightly, off and on, for most of the day.

Today we will be picking up Michael’s friend, Cindy, at the airport. Michael decided to get a room for Cindy at a nearby studio hotel. It is a very new hotel and has been open for only two weeks. It will give her a chance to get to know our family while living in a place of her own, so to speak. So now we are ready for Cindy to arrive this afternoon.

A small crowd went to the airport to meet Cindy as she arrived from California. Jim, Steven, Kay, Michael, and I were waiting for Cindy as she came out of the Jetway. She said she had a very nice flight. It sounds as if her trip experience was much better than what Michael had to go through to get to Wichita.

We decided to go to Willie C’s for our evening meal. I am always ready for their really good, grilled tuna steak sandwich. I have yet to find a better tuna steak sandwich anywhere. While we were eating, it began to rain very hard. The sound of the rain on the roof of the restaurant was a low roar.

When we left Willie C’s, West Street looked like a small lake. We drove down the street with water rising as high as the bottom of the car door at times. Steven thought it was great fun to drive through the water. Many other vehicles were driving along with us. There was a jacked up, four-wheel-drive, sport utility vehicle that drove in the curb lane passing us on the right. At times it was driving fast enough to throw an arch of water over the cars in our lane.

A few older autos flooded out along the way. I was very pleased with the way our new rental car performed in the deep water. The brakes kept working even after driving several blocks through water deep enough to submerge the brake mechanisms.

Cindy did not get to rest for long before we were going to visit with Michael’s grandparents, Lois and George. I brought my mother over to participate in the visit. I brought the materials with me to put together a Christmas-tree-light ball. It took a couple of hours to assemble. It is made with a set of miniature Christmas tree lights that appear to move sequentially. The sequential operation of the lamps make the light-ball change colors. The plastic cups disperse the colored light making it appear as if there are more lamps than are actually present.

Just before I finished the light ball, my mother wanted to go home, so Michael and Cindy took her back to her place. When I finished the Christmas-tree-light ball, Lois said she would like to use the ball for her Christmas decorating, so I told her she could have it.

When Michael and Cindy returned, Cindy was very diplomatic when Lois asked her, what she thought about the light ball. Cindy said, "That is really something." We both got a laugh at her attempt to be tactful without revealing her true feelings about the light ball.

The "Something" flashing light ball

My hands were fatigued from punching all the holes in the plastic cups used to assemble the Christmas-tree-light ball. It felt good to be finished with the project.

We decided to go back to Jim and Donna’s place for the remainder of the evening. We ended the day watching the movie "Men In Black." I enjoyed the movie, but I don’t think everybody liked the movie as much as I did.