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Many happenings to report since May 22.

Rachel and the dogs and I went to the lake, of course. The cats had a vacation at home, sans dogs. While at the lake in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we managed to legally acquire some real fireworks. In order to enter the backroom where the real fireworks were sold, we had to present out-of-state ID and sign a form indicating that we would immediately transport the fireworks out of Pennsylvania, presumably to the nearest state where they could be legally discharged (South Carolina). Of course we did exactly this, along with the estimated 2,000 New Yorkers and New Jersians in the shop. Once in South Carolina, primary fireworks lighting duties were assigned to Devon, which resulted in this photo. (Our lake in South Carolina bears a striking resemblance to Waynewood). I’m not sure if South Carolina imposes restrictions on fireworks launching methods.

Our lake trip was punctuated by a Seattle trip, where Mike and Bonnie were married in a perfect morning ceremony. Even the Hora went down injury-free, though Mike gripped the chair somewhat nervously. Congratulations Mike and Bonnie! Other highlights of the trip included excellent fish (even better than in Central Illinois, if you can imagine), whale watching, and First Class tickets (”May I take your jacket, Mrs. Dimock?”, while the cattle in back were paying $4 for peanuts).

While visiting us at the lake, MIL acquired a friend for Dobby. She is a border collie puppy, appropriately named Winky. And based on her apparent inborn sense of housetraining (six weeks old, and not a single pee in the house!), I would rank her intelligence above that of Indy and Annie, combined. Photos are available in the Pack of Dogs album.

Last night I gained newfound respect for a plant in our garden purporting to be the “World’s Hottest Pepper” (twice as hot, the label claims, as a Habenaro). The plant had produced a single pepper, a red specimen about the size of a blueberry. So I picked it and took a tiny bite. Holy crap, that pepper wasn’t messing around. It put me out of commission for about half an hour, and I managed only one more bite over the course of the evening. The remainder of the beast (about half) is sitting in our fridge, taunting me with its copious capsaicin.

Work has been very busy lately. Apparently, expensive gas = more simulators.

Home improvement has shifted to the interior of our house, which is now the weak link after a year of exterior improvement. First up is a mini-renovation of the dining room, including classy red paint and a paint-and-tile job to replace the 70’s-brown bricks on the fireplace. Hopefully my newfound tiling skills can be transferred to larger projects such as the kitchen and bathrooms.

We attended our first demolition derby at the Champaign County Fair this past week. Aside from the final round where the final two contestants were unable to steer, it was an action-packed event. I highly recommend attending you local demolition derby this summer. And for the common-sense-impaired (many of whom were in attendance at the Champaign Fair), please do not bring your 6-month-old baby along. This is an extremely noisy event.