MLK Day (Part 1)

On Monday, Bob and I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum on Lake Erie. We took the #35 bus to Tower City ("Major" shopping complex in Downtown Cleveland, OH). We were going to take the Waterfront Line (#67) to around East 9th St. and Lakeside Ave., which is about a five minute walk from the Rock Hall. After waiting about ten minutes after the train was scheduled to come, I went to check to see if my schedule was up to date. Ninety-nine percent of the time, my schedules are up to date. This was an exception. I discover that my schedule was changed in November. (My schedule was from last June.) The Waterfront Line only runs during Rush Hour now. I had two options. One was taking the Loop Bus that would have taken me to the Municipal parking lot (Muny lot), which is even closer to the Rock Hall. However, that bus runs only during Rush Hour. This is due to the popularity of the free trolleys sponsored by Dollar Bank that circle Downtown Cleveland. One goes from the Warehouse District to Cleveland State University (E Line). The other one goes near the various Government offices (B Line). (Go to http://www.riderta.com for more information.) As it turns out, this one was what we wanted to take to get us closer to the Rock Hall. Within minutes, the trolley came to the corner of Euclid Avenue and Ontario St. We got off at East 9th St. and Lakeside Ave. It was slightly longer than if we were able to take the train, but we "enjoyed" the exercise.

We didn't have to wait long to get down into the heart of the museum (on the Lower Level). The exhibits were pretty interesting, although not much has changed since last year. One interesting exhibit that was new was a display on the history of WMMS radio. It was to honor the station's 40th Anniversary. For the readers who aren't associated with Cleveland, it is a groundbreaking station that helped spread the music of Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, and Roxy Music, among others. It has seen better days, but they still play rock music (Mostly "Modern Rock", though). The exhibit was full of WMMS memorabilia through the years. Another exhibit dealt with Marty Stuart (Country Singer) and his influences. (Go to http://www.rockhall.org for more details.) In general, the Rock Hall was quite interesting, although I didn't see any celebrities this year. I can't wait to go back next year (if it's free. (The Rock Hall, Great Lakes Science Museum, and various museums in the University Circle area of Cleveland offer free or reduced admission on MLK Day to honor the legendary Civil Rights Activist.) )

My next posts will include more on MLK Day and the Gift Exchange.

My Wish List Stories

Here are the long overdue stories that I have promised to tell. As it turns out, there are three funny stories from the Gift Exchange. First, Mike Schabel sent both his and Maggie's Wish List in the same e-mail, but he left a pronoun out that would have clearly marked their individual desires. Instead, it came out sounding like both items requested were from Maggie. I just assumed that the requests were from separate people. Second, Mandy and Amy had to re-send their messages. Mandy had an electrical problem. Amy's problem is a mystery to me.

Finally, Patty had the most "fun" trying to get Lois's present. After talking to her friend, Amy Gould, to make sure that she had power after the Ice Storm that had hit New England in December. She had power in Lunenberg, MA, but Patty's goal of Kohl's in nearby Leominster, MA failed when that store was without power. This could have been avoided by calling Kohl's, but I would have "gambled", too. Unfortunately, other Kohls are about forty-five minutes away. Also, if Patty wasn't familiar with all of her area Kohls, she couldn't do the Internet research, because she was without power at that time. As a result, Lois received a check and a letter explaining what happened. (Her other choice, Steve's Dakota Grille, is only in Ohio, and their website doesn't sell Gift Cards online.) In general, we all enjoyed our presents as far as I know.

Speaking of Christmas, the list of people from Maggie's birthday on December 27 are now a comment on the post of January 2 at http://kendalmarie.blogspot.com/. When I originally wrote this post, apparently I didn't allow the post to open up totally, so I didn't see the comment link for that post. As a result, I gave some bad information about where the post was going to be. I hope that the comments are still a draft for my eyes only as I am the only person who can edit this blog at this time. I hope that my readers will appreciate matching faces with people from this blog. Also, my non-family readers are welcome to guess who took the picture. It should be easy if you read my December 27 post and use the process of elimination. I hope to report here again real soon.

We're Still Waiting!

I e-mailed Laura yesterday. Today, she revealed that she and Dan JR. did not join Patty and Dan SR. on their trip to Medina to see the Schmidts (Mike, Marnie, and Family). I guess we'll have to wait for the story of When Kendal and Hayden Met Amy Marie. My theory is that a football game was a factor in this situation. You can't miss a Browns-Steelers game on television. (This is my interpretation as Dan and Laura are major Browns fans. Also, the Schmidts were going back home to Howell, MI that day.)

Speaking of the Schmidts, their blog is very good at showing off Kendal and Hayden. It also has cute captions for the pictures. One of these days, there will be cute captions when pictures finally show up (other than the pictures provided by my widgets/RSS) (A scanner and/or a digital camera are in the future.) on this blog.

Maybe next time, there will be the "funny" stories from the Gift Exchange. I am sure that my readers will enjoy them. Epiphany (January 6) would be an appropriate day to tell them.

Kendal and Hayden's Blog

After posting my last entry, I went to the blog mentioned in the post' s title. I noticed a few interesting items. First, I learned nothing about my sister's visit to visit the Schmidts. Second, for those people not in my family, I am in two pictures. One is a family picture captioned as "The McDonnell's at Christmas" (For those people with great memories, last year' s Christmas report shared the same title until I corrected it.). The second picture includes Bob and me with Hayden. If you want to see these pictures, go to the link (The one that is not city-oriented) that is on the left side of this blog. I probably have to adjust the title, but the link should work since the blog's address has not changed. Come to think of it, I should have used the direct link by going to my blog after sending my last post. Oh well, we all learn from our mistakes. (For the record, the title is not perfect, but the subjects are noted.)

By the way, I do learn from my mistakes sometimes. I give you city and state information in my stories so you can do your own research on my area. I give you widgets\RSS for research purposes as well. The reason that I mention this is that the Kendal/Hayden blog is sometimes a little vague on location. It is usually good on who's who, but sometimes, it misses when there are a lot of people in the pictures, or perhaps it's a "subliminal" attempt to get comments. Maybe, that's OK since Kendal and Hayden are the main focus of that blog. By the way, my focus started with the widgets that are still featured, (RSS was a learning curve.) but the family is really more interesting as anyone can get lucky with the Internet insights. Since the family is not well-known or famous, it would be nice to reveal the who's who that is missing from the family picture. However, some of the people are pictured in other pictures from that day, as well as in some other past photos. I will use a comment to identify people for our non family readers. I hope that you go see the picture to put faces to some of the people that make this blog more interesting. Have fun learning!

Family Dinner

Last night, we had a family dinner at Max and Erma's in Middleburg Heights, OH. The participants were Dan SR., Patty, Kathleen, Tim, Lois, Joe, Bob, Dan JR., Laura, Mandy, Amy Marie, and myself. Mike and Maggie had a prior commitment. Paul was working on a car at his house. The rest of the immediate family live out of state.

Since we didn't hook up with Dan JR. and Laura at Christmas, Bob and Kathleen received their Christmas presents from them. (Dan Sr. had his daughter, Amy, (who lives near him) in the Gift Exchange, and Patty mailed Lois her gift.) Kathleen provided Christmas presents for Amy Marie and birthday presents for Dan Sr. and Laura. I discussed my gift to Dan JR. with him. I told him that his Sears Gift Card could also be used at K Mart. It was news to him, although it said so on the card. I told him not to let Laura use it at Super K Mart (in Niles, OH). (For the record, K Mart is the most convenient of all the discount stores in my area by bus. During the week (Monday through Friday), I have a one bus trip to a K Mart on both branches of the #35 bus Southbound. (http://www.riderta.com) I also have a Super K Mart not too far away in Brooklyn, OH. I hope that K Mart survives because there is more to discount shopping than Target and Wal Mart. We enjoyed the food and family atmosphere.

During the trip to Max and Erma's, I learned that Patty, and probably Dan Sr., (Dan JR., Laura, and Amy Marie's participation was not mentioned. I will let you know if they participated in a future posting.) visited the Schmidts at Mike's parents house in Medina, OH on Sunday. (You know about it from my report on Kendal's second birthday party and Hayden's "Coronation" back in May.) In addition, Dan Sr.'s brother Michael became a first time grandfather when his son Jimmy and his wife had a baby girl on Tuesday. Speaking of grandparents, Dan Sr. and Patty's second grandchild will probably be a girl. If you're keeping score, that make four great-nieces for me. In a few months, I hope to share the joyful news.

My next posting should be about the long awaited "funny stories" about the Gift Exchange that I have been promising you for over a week. Until then, enjoy the New Year.