Not so much.

So I was told that these little tabs on my windows were there to keep the windows from being opened all the way, so you could leave them about 3” open for air, but nobody could open them all the way to get in the house.

I found out today that’s not true, as a matter of fact, they just assist the burglar in getting in the house.

See, I went down to Price to visit a friend today, had a wonderful day but came home to this:

My house was broken into.  They cut the screen and then popped the window out.   I didn’t get cleaned out, they didn’t take any of the three televisions, the computer, my tablet or even the liquor in the fridge.  They did get all the change out of my change bucket and a couple antique cameras.  That’s all – but still enough to piss me off and creep me out that some jackass was in my house going through my stuff.

What I did find out, and what you need to be aware of, is that those little tabs are there to hold down the window rails so that you can lift up and pop out the window.  As soon as I realized that, it was simple to get the window back in.  I also felt real stupid for making it so easy to get into my house.

Thematic Photographic: Windows

More through my windshield.

In the summer of ‘08 I spent a couple weeks driving through Utah, Nevada and California looking for ghost towns.  Here is one of the times we scared some scavengers off their afternoon meal of roadkill.

On the same trip we went through Death Valley in the middle of June.  August would have been worse, but it still got up to 111°F.

Coming down the canyon headed to Price, you first get to the small town of Helper.  It is called Helper because they used to have extra engines that would hook onto trains full of coal, help them up to the summit and then head back to town to wait for the next train.  Here is a spot where they cut through the mountain for the road.

Along the 100 mile stretch between Price and Green River.  Long, straight road with pretty much the exact same scenery the whole way.

Until the mid- to late-80’s, Interstate 15 did not exist between Nephi (Nee-fi)  and Scipio (Sip-ee-oh).  Travelers were forced off the divided freeway onto a 2 laned highway, which became known as “The Nephi Death Strip” because of the almost weekly fatalities along this stretch.

Back in 2005 I drove to Denver with another teacher for a Middle School conference.  We took the I-80 route there, but decided to come back by I-70, a longer but more scenic drive.  This picture was taken just before Vail, Colorado.

These last two pictures were taken on the trip back from L.A., when my two brothers and I went out there to buy my 1969 Ford LTD.  I tried to get a picture of a road sign for the exit to Zzyzx Rd outside of Baker, California.  I like it better than if it had been taken in the daylight and was perfectly clear.

And finally, Las Vegas from the back seat of the old LTD.

Basketball

Our vice principal was out at a drug conference today, and he had asked me to “be” him during both lunches.  As twisted as some people think this is, I actually enjoy doing lunch duty.  I started the habit at my first school, when the faculty was literally embattled for and against changes the administration was trying to implement.  The Spanish teacher, who I still get together with on a regular basis, and I got so tired of all the bitching and moaning in the faculty lunchroom that we would spend our lunches in the student lunchroom.  It turned out to be a great time to relate to the students on a different level, where I was not worried about making it through the curriculum and could just B.S, with them.  It follows me to this day.

Today, during first lunch, it was snowing outside.  That didn’t stop the students from using the newly erected (heh, heh) basketball standard in the courtyard.  I was watching them through the cafeteria windows, thinking what morons they were for playing basketball in the snow when Thematic Photographic popped into my mind.  I ran to my classroom, grabbed my camera and got a bunch of pictures.  So, here is “Basketball in the snow, through the window.” Here you can actually see that it is snowing.

Personally, I preferred to watch it from the warmth on my side of the window.

Ironically, during second lunch when it was just raining, nobody was playing basketball.

A window looks both in and out.

I have a habit of taking pictures through the windshield when on road trips or just out taking pictures.  Often I do this when I’m driving, and just want to assure everyone that I’m not looking through the viewfinder, weaving in and out of traffic, trying to get the perfect picture.  I pretty much just hold the camera up out of my view of the road, point it out the window and take indiscriminant pictures, just hoping that I get something worthwhile.  And sometimes I do.  Here is the first batch I found.  Some are worthy of posting, some may not be, but still I like them because they are of my past.

Circa 1978, looking east up 2100 South, right around 2300 East.  I plan on spending some time this summer taking “now” pictures of a lot of these older Salt Lake scenes.

1978.  Looking west from somewhere on the east bench.

1978.  Looking south on Main Street from above North Temple Street.  You can see the LDS Temple on the right hand side, and what was then the Hotel Utah on the left.

1978.  Looking westward on South Temple towards downtown.

Recent (2002ish).  Close to the save view as the previous picture.

No idea when, but I do know it was heading south on I-15, seven miles out of Beaver and 61 miles from Cedar City.

2003ish.  Can you find the gorilla that is attacking Sugarhouse?  This is heading east on I-80 just about to cross over 7th East.

The corner of 13th South and 11th East.  On the right hand side is the old Dairy Queen, a favorite spot for us back in high school.  They closed down sometime in the 80’s and the building has been vacant ever since.  “Back of Beyond Ranch” is what my brothers and I call out property up in Duchesne.  It comes from the book “Monkey Wrench Gang” by Edward Abbey.

Back in the 80’s, driving east on I-80 just past 1300 East. 

I still don’t know why they were there, but I caught this picture of a line of busses on the side of the road in front of the park by my house.

Clouds on my way home when I was teaching at Writer’s school.

Just this winter I took this picture while driving down Emigration Canyon, historically the canyon the the LDS pioneers came down with Brigham Young when they came to the valley.

Up at the University of Utah, the road (with light rail) between the Stadium where the 2002 Olympic opening ceremonies took place and the old track building.

Waiting for Trax to go through, up at the University also.

The problem with new windows....

...is that when they get dirty cleaning them actually helps. Old double-paned windows with broken seals don't look any better when you don't clean them, which gives you a good excuse for not bothering. My new ones, none of the crap is between the pieces of glass, so I just KNOW they would look a lot better if I cleaned them. Yeah, it was great having an excuse. But now that I spent the entire day cleaning the house, [2 loads of dishes - 4 loads of laundry - a full recycling bin of papers that were laying around], I'm just going to have to fix it so the dirty windows don't stick out like a sore thumb. Which means cleaning them. Bleah!

What did I do today?

Other than lay around and watch SG1?

First I finished putting in the bedroom windows.  The two windows I did today took about 3 hours to complete, about the same time as the first one took.  I learned a lot from that first one.

I still have to do the trim on the inside, but I want to let the caulking cure for a few days before I do that.  I also have to figure out how to do the trim since the windows don't fit quite the same as the old ones.

Then I started to refinish my school desk.  If you missed me mentioning it before, or maybe I didn't, one of the nice things about leaving a school that is closing down is that you get to take a bunch of stuff with you that normally would stay at the school.  Like my desk.  It's a really nice old wooden desk, built back when they were built to last.  6 drawers all together, and they even lock, all but one.  The finish is a little worn down by some 50+ years of classroom exposure, so I decided to re do it.  I got about 3/4 of the way through the sanding when I realized it's 10:00pm on a weeknight and the noise was probably annoying neighbors who have to get up for work in the morning.

One down, two to go..

3 years ago I had new windows put in the house.  All except for three in the bedroom and one in the laundry room.  I had already bought a window for the laundry room, and they wanted $600 extra for the three 2' x 2' windows on the east side of the bedroom.  So, I decided to do it myself.  Up until yesterday when I started the project, they were old 1940's single pane windows that I had covered with a couple levels of plexiglass to help insulate them.  Which meant that although they kept the heat in pretty well, they not only didn't allow me to open my windows in the summer, but they looked like hell too.  I bought three 2' x 2' double paned vinyl windows sometime this winter, and just had to wait for school to get out so I could install them. 

The first one went quite well.  The hardest part was getting the old window out, since I had sealed the plexiglass with silicone caulking it wasn't too eager to come out.  I ended up breaking the glass and demolishing the window frame.  I don't care about the frame, I'd be tossing it whether it was intact or not, but the glass is certainly a pain to clean up.  But that's ok, it went in really easy, and looks pretty good for an amateur, if I do say so myself.