Upton Remodel Photos: October 2016

It's a mad dash before winter sets in!

The old "deck" was very rickety, and over the last few months, a couple of the stairs actually broke through, to the point we were only walking on the stair supports. Now, though it isn't quite done, we actually have a large deck, which is very useful as a workspace if nothing else!

The backyard was full of stumps, fence posts, bumps, holes, litter...it needed major work. So we finally called in a Bobcat, who leveled the whole thing and took out many of the fenceposts and stumps. We don't really have much grass yet; we'll need to lay sod come spring, but it looks SO much better!

The dining room ceiling was caving in, so we jacked it up, and installed extra support beams in the attic, so now there is only a small sag, which won't be noticeable once we get the drywall up!

The basement had serious moisture issues. There was mold on the walls, and the concrete floor was actually completely buckled - no huge shock, seeing as it was only 1/2" thick! We tore out all the concrete, installed drain tile (which is already functioning well!), and poured new concrete. It's a whole new basement!

We tore out the chimney, so created a hole in the roof. There were also many roof boards that needed to be replaced, so we fixed that all up before we put new shingles on.

Upton Remodel Photos: September 2016

Before:

Gross bathroom, and plumbing below the bathroom

See that chimney? It's gone now!

NOW!

Straightened the garage, and installed a new door

Bricks from the chimney! Easily dismantled by hand.

New plumbing in basement

Bathroom in progress

New front steps

Drain tile in basement for moisture issues.

Egress Window

We tore down a wall, so you can see all the way from the kitchen through to the living room!

Working at Valleyfair

I've always wondered what it would be like to work at a roller coaster park. I've loved coasters my whole life, and in the back of my mind, it was always something I wanted to do. Finding myself unemployed during the summer, ​I saw that the local park was hiring for the end bit of the season, to replace all the college kids who were heading back off to school before the park closed. I knew I would be older than most of the employees, but especially at first, being 24 made me feel super old when almost everyone else there is between 16 and 22.

Oncoming riders! Welcome to Xtreme Swing! You may now enter by pushing on the gates in front of you. Loose articles such as hats, bags, glasses and flip-flops are not permitted on the ride and must be left with a non-rider or placed in the storage bins. Valleyfair is not responsible for items lost or damaged during the ride and you accept all responsibility for items left in the bin. Once seated, pull down the lap bar and fasten the belt. If you need assistance, please notify a loader to help you.

While I have been trained on more rides than Xtreme Swing (Minnesota River Valley Railroad, Monster (Octopus), Corkscrew (roller coaster)), it's the one where I spent most of my time. I literally dreamed about running the ride, over, and over, and over again, for many nights after getting off work.

Some things about working there were awesome!

• I got to test-ride each of the rides I worked on, including once while wearing kegel balls. I was paid to ride a ride while wearing kegel balls. Take that, bucket list!
• Kids between 48 and 52 inches tall are adorable
• People always ask me if Xtreme Swing is scary - I don't think so. Heck, my dad said it almost put him to sleep when he rode it! But I generally tell them that it depends on your perspective.

Working there, especially at first, was very hard, as I knew it would be. I was working over 50-hours some weeks, in the heat, constantly on my feet, walking as many as about 20 miles (rough estimate) back and forth around the platform all day. However, I got some *skills* I didn't quite expect

• By the end of the 3 weeks of full time work, I wasn't completely exhausted after a 13-hour shift on my feet in the sun
• I learned to shout over constantly loud noises (rides, music, people...)
• I developed the ability to recite scripts very very fast
• I can easily spot people wearing glasses, flip-flops or hats
• I can also easily notice people not wearing short skirts or pants over their swimsuits, as well as guys not wearing shirts (but I didn't need Valleyfair to teach me that)
• I learned all the highways that go around the southern metro (between traffic and road construction, I took a wide variety of routes)
• My shins got fairly bruise resistant as I was generally kicked on a daily basis by people who can't hold their feet still when they're hanging free
• I have gotten more tan than I have ever been before and my arm hair looks white against my skin

And of course, I learned some fun behind-the scenes bits:

• Redbox is Valleyfair code for "throw up" - try talking to a Valleyfair employee about red boxing
• The employee café called the Best Day Bistro serves the same food as in the parking except much cheaper
• Rotating positions is the key to avoiding boredom. Everyone pretty much knows at least 3-4 positions, most people tend to know a dozen or more. You generally rotate every hour or so. Apparently nobody just says the spiel all day like I'd originally thought.
• Everyone has a very distinct farmers tan with the V-neck from a polo shirt and shorts
• Apparently lifeguards have the most boring job
• The control booths are often air-conditioned to be freezing cold
• There's more to running the ride than pushing the go button, but not very much more
• Some people look really weird when they're riding rides. Xtreme Swing especially ranges from pure terror to boredom.

For the most part, experienced riders are the most pleasant, because they know what they're doing. However, even expert riders forget things sometimes. Here are some tips for novice riders and coaster junkies to keep in mind to make the days of the ride operators they interact with:

• If you can't figure out your harness, don't scream about it, or act confused or stupid. Just patiently wait for the ride operator to get to you to buckle it. You are not the only one who couldn't figure it out. Heck, only about 3/4 of people know how the harnesses work, and most of them have probably ridden the ride before.
• I don't know why anyone would wear their hair down to an amusement park. It's your choice, but it will get in your face and tangled.
• When you are told to put your hands up so we can check your restraint, don't expect us to think you're witty saying some remark in response. We've heard it all.
• When there is a grouper telling you where and how to sit, know how many people you are with and/or how and if you want to divide ahead of time, before being asked. It helps us so much you have no idea. Also, if you're riding alone, be alert for the grouper to call for a single rider. You will get on the ride faster, and make the grouper happy.
• If you're too fat/tall to ride, just realize it when you can't get the restraint to lock. We can't push extra hard to fit you in, so just recognize it and bow out. Nobody wins when we have to tell you you're too fat to ride.
• If you're too short (or with a kid who is too short), don't protest. Cedar Fair parks and likely other parks let kids get measured with a doctor style measurer. The kids can wear a wristband with their height, so the ride operator doesn't have to stress as much about comparing them to the height of a stick. Please get them measured, and don't have them try to get on rides they aren't tall enough for.
• Last but not least, LISTEN to the ride operator. While you don't HAVE to take your phone out of your pocket, believe us when we highly encourage you to not leave them in your basketball short pockets. We have seen them fall out. If glasses aren't allowed, either wear a strap or take them off without complaint. I know they won't fall off, but those are the rules, and I could get in trouble if you keep them on.
• Smile and waive at the ride operators as the train leaves the station, or we exit the platform. Sometimes that's all it takes to make our day.
• Don't make weird faces, etc. at the control booth while they are giving a spiel. It's probably fine for more experienced operators, but it sometimes doesn't take much for me to get distracted.

Pottermore Wand

On Pottermore, I received a Cherry and Phoenix Feather wand, 10" long, and quite bendy.

According to Rowling, the interpretation is:

WOOD: Cherry - This very rare wand wood creates a wand of strange power, most highly prized by the wizarding students of the school of Mahoutokoro in Japan, where those who own cherry wands have special prestige. The Western wand-purchaser should dispel from their minds any notion that the pink blossom of the living tree makes for a frivolous or merely ornamental wand, for cherry wood often makes a wand that possesses truly lethal power, whatever the core, but if teamed with dragon heartstring, the wand ought never to be teamed with a wizard without exceptional self-control and strength of mind.

CORE: Phoenix Feather - This is the rarest core type. Phoenix feathers are capable of the greatest range of magic, though they may take longer than either unicorn or dragon cores to reveal this. They show the most initiative, sometimes acting of their own accord, a quality that many witches and wizards dislike. Phoenix feather wands are always the pickiest when it comes to potential owners, for the creature from which they are taken is one of the most independent and detached in the world. These wands are the hardest to tame and to personalize, and their allegiance is usually hard won.

LENGTH: 10" is within the average range, and length doesn't have significant impact within that range.

FLEXIBILITY: "Quite bendy" represents an adaptability and willingness to change.

But the second time I took the quiz, it gave me:

SYCAMORE WITH UNICORN CORE, TEN AND A QUARTER INCHES, UNBENDING

WOOD: The sycamore makes a questing wand, eager for new experience and losing brilliance if engaged in mundane activities. It is a quirk of these handsome wands that they may combust if allowed to become ‘bored,’ and many witches and wizards, settling down into middle age, are disconcerted to find their trusty wand bursting into flame in their hand as they ask it, one more time, to fetch their slippers. As may be deduced, the sycamore’s ideal owner is curious, vital and adventurous, and when paired with such an owner, it demonstrates a capacity to learn and adapt that earns it a rightful place among the world's most highly-prized wand woods.


CORE: Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard.

Minor disadvantages of unicorn hair are that they do not make the most powerful wands (although the wand wood may compensate) and that they are prone to melancholy if seriously mishandled, meaning that the hair may 'die' and need replacing.

FLEXIBILITY: "Unbending" represents a refusal to change.

Family Photos Classification

I just have to get this out there: I LOVE classification systems. I’ve always loved organization, and good classification systems are like the epitome of perfected organization.

When posed with the scanning and organization of a large photo collection, I was determined to come up with a numerical classification scheme, somehow based on the family tree. Friends who I told who didn’t have any background in library/information science were totally dumbfounded that I intended to give each photo a unique number that would MAKE SENSE. Friends who were information scientists were also amazed that I would take on such a task, with such high expectations of myself.

It took a couple weeks to develop, but it finally came to me, suddenly.

I figured out how to organize them based on who is in the picture. Since pictures with members of the same nuclear family are most common, I set the nuclear family as the primary arrangement. I created a family tree, and gave each nuclear family a 3-digit number (starting with 001 and increasing semi-arbitrarily). Within each family, I lettered the family members, starting with the father and mother. Thus, every person has a 4-character number. You may realize that as people get married/re-married, etc, they would have more than one individual number. I created the standard that each individual goes by the default of their first (child) number, but the other numbers are indexed, so they can be retrieved according to any of their numbers. That is the numerical scheme for photos of an individual. If there is more than one person from the same nuclear family in the photo, I replaced the letters (a/b/c/d..) with the letters W (parents), X (parents and kids), Y (kids), or Z (parents/kids/grandkids/great grandkids). Thus, each photo is labeled 001d, 060W, etc. Then, once the photos are sorted, I weeded out duplicates, keeping the best copy of each image. Then, as I scanned, I added a 3-digit number to the end, so they each were uniquely matched with their digital counterpart. Final numbers were: 001d_013, 060W_046, etc.

For photos that did not nicely match the nuclear family scheme, I created “families” (999, 998, etc) that described more obscure relationships, or non-family members. All of the photos are scanned as high-resolution TIFFs, with thumbnail JPG versions, and are fully indexed and described in an Excel spreadsheet, so with full text-searching capabilities, everything is retrievable digitally, as well as physically. The photos are saved digitally on my internal hard drive, and backed up on my external hard drive. Once photos are scanned, they are stored in archival storage boxes (naturally in the same order as the numerical scheme). The format (small print/large print/slide/negative) is specified in the description in Picasa so that physical retrievability is possible.

Photo albums were also scanned as a part of the project. I used the basic numerical structure, with an additional field inserted that identified the album. For example, 001e_1950a_p001 would be 001e's first scrapbook from 1950, page 1.

SLIS Assignment

The online environment has been evolving rapidly ever since it came into existence. I was first introduced to Google Calendar in 2007, and was hesitant - I used Yahoo email and a paper calendar, and was content with that. But then I discovered the world of Google collaboration, and the world seemed to open. Google Docs has been an invaluable tool in educational, professional and social collaboration for the past three years of my life. Google Calendar and sharing settings help enable live collaboration. Skype, Elluninate, Wikis, and countless other internet services are amazing tools in collaboration, especially in an online-only environment.


The personal skills needed to succeed as an online student are really quite similar as those needed to succeed as a self-motivated student in a traditional school setting. Since eighth grade, I've done a number of academic independent studies, and found it crucial to set personal deadlines that aligned with the professor's assignment deadlines. If working in a group, deadlines should be clear to all participants for each phase of the project, so everything gets completed on time and nothing is left out.


One of the reasons I was particularly attracted to the idea of an online MLIS is that I am a visual learner. I have often found myself in the position where I was the only one in the class that read the assigned textbook reading, and found the lecture to be a complete regurgitation of the text material. An online program, being primarily textual/visual, is very appealing. I can also hold a job in my area of interest, while doing my coursework after dinner.


I see myself as generally good at time management, organization, self-motivation, working independently, and I love working with technology, and am always up for a challenge. Let the semester begin!

RCHS Store

I just finished re-vamping the Rice County Historical Society Gift Shop! We now have all of our merchandise clearly displayed and marked with reasonable prices. We also have a clearance section, which includes VHS and cassette tapes, framed works, and decorative dolls, among other items.

In addition to the clearance rack, the front display also includes our toys. We have toys for all ages, including bow-and-arrow sets, dolls, puzzles and pencil sharpeners!

We then move over to our adult merchandise section. We have sweatshirts and t-shirts in a variety of colors, as well as gifts for everyone on your list.

Jewelry, dried flower arrangements, thimbles and the like are arranged together on a bed of lace, for your shopping pleasure.

Our pins and magnets are newly displayed together above the counter.

We have a variety of items on display, including glassware, postcards and girls' necklaces.

We also now have two stands for our childrens' books, one rack containing coloring books, the other containing children's books.

And finally, our books are now organized by subject, for your browsing pleasure.

We hope you come visit the Rice County Historical Society Gift Shop soon!