Finally, my basement is done.  Yesterday, they installed the mirror and fixed the ugly plate/hole in the wall.

So now I'll finally pay the last $1000 and be done with it.  Hooray!

We (meaning my wife) has put some time into moving and organizing all of the stuff we had temporarily installed upstairs and the storage room is looking great!  I have a mess of cables and speaker wire to organize, but then that will look good as well.

Now if I can just find the ground loop problem that is causing that low hum in the subwoofer...

I've been absent for a couple of weeks.  It's been a VERY busy couple of weeks.

Tech week for the play I'm in started on the 16th.  Every night, we were at the theater late - until 11:00 or later.  The show opened on Friday and my cast had our opening on Saturday.  It's a fun show and we've had good audience reaction so far.

Last week:

I relaxed on Monday.  I was worn out after tech week.  Tuesday, I turned on the sprinkler system and, of course, had a problem that needed to be fixed.  I ended up digging up a sprinkler head and replacing a part of it.  Wednesday, I was in charge at the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby.  My son took 2nd place, and I didn't even cheat!  Thursday night I had a show.  Friday, I cooked Dutch Oven food for the entire 4th grade at my son's grade school and then went camping with my other son's scout troop.  On Saturday, we hiked 7 or 8 miles of the Pony Express Trail.  I had another show on Saturday night.

Fortunately, Sunday was a rather lazy day, but the yard work season is upon me, so every night that I'm home, I'll be working in the yard.  But I'm not going to complain about that.  It could be like last year when I was trying to get a yard put in.  That wasn't fun at all.

I put the word complete in quotation marks on purpose.

On Friday, we signed off on the punchlist, even though there were a couple of items not yet complete.  The mirror they brought in was too wide, so they're gong to bring in one that's the right size in a couple of days.  There's a bit of a hole around the dryer vent still, but there are plans in place to fix that.  And while we were signing off upstairs, the guy that put stain and clear coat on the handrails dinged a couple of places on the ceiling.  Of course, he didn't SAY anything.  Instead, he quickly cleaned up the paint chips that landed on the floor.

As we've used the basement, we found a leak under the bathroom sink.  We also found that a couple of switches on one particular lighting circuit trip the breaker if you flip the switch.  Hopefully, that's not a major problem.

But the good news is that we don't have to leave our basement window open so that workers can show up.  We are starting to feel like our home is OURS again.

In the meantime, I hung the projector from the ceiling and I hooked up the receiver and DVD player.  Pulling the cables for the projector was difficult.  Next time, I'm going to buy some lubricant that they make, just for that purpose.

We also scrubbed the vinyl and tile floors and I put up all of the miniblinds.  Then we got the table tennis table out and started to play!

It's going to be a REALLY fun space.  I'll be glad when it's complete, and not "complete."

How do you get to the point where you can walk into a room full of strangers, look at them, and start killing them?  How do you get to the point where your life and the lives of other people mean so little to you?  How do you get to the point where you even start planning ahead--acquiring weapons, ammunition, and other tools--for the sole purpose of destroying life?  How do you get to that point?

The massacre (as the media is calling it, and I happen to agree) at Virginia Tech today is shocking and unbelievable.  The February killing spree at Trolley Square in Salt Lake hit closer to home with me because I've walked those halls.  Columbine always comes to mind when considering mindless violence against innocent people.  These events and so many similar events are simply senseless.

If you hate yourself to the point that you want to end your life, what makes you decide to take as many people with you as you can?  How does causing others so much physical pain and emotional heartache make any difference to you?  In the end, you're still just as dead.

I'm glad I don't get it.

Laylabean posted this on her site, so I thought I'd give it a shot too.

1. What is your first name? It's Mr., of course! Ok, so it's not hard to figure out that my name is DeShawn if you just do a lookup on the details of my domain.

2. Were you named after anyone? My mom taught a boy in Sunday School named "Dishon." That's right out of one of the genealogies of the old testament. According to Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary, it either means "ashes" or "fatness." No wonder I'm fat. My parents changed the spelling to DeShawn so I could go by "Shawn" if I wanted to and I did while working in McDonald's in High School. "Shawn" on a nametag gets many fewer stares and fewer questions than "DeShawn." According to the book Freakanomics, my name is the "blackest" first name there is for a man, so I'm the only white DeShawn you'll ever meet. One more thing: My parent's spelled my name with an apostrophe after the e: De'Shawn. I dropped it after grade school and since it's not on my birth certificate, it's not official. So there.

3. Do you wish on stars? No. I never have and I never will. Well, except for when I'm in Disneyland.

4. When did you last cry? I don't remember. But I came close when writing my bio for No Time For Sergeants. In my little bio blurb, I thanked Grandma Hale and Syd Riggs for sharing their love of theatre with me. I miss them both... especially Syd. When she unexpectedly passed away, I lost a friend. As I sat and thought about them both, I started getting weepy.

5. Do you like your handwriting? It's not too bad. I prefer to type, but when I have to write something, it's pretty legible.

6. What is your favorite lunch meat? Do I have to pick jsut one? My favorite sandwich is a club sandwich with roast beef, ham, and turkey. Specifically, I like the "Club Met" at Gandolfo's.

7. What is your most embarrassing CD? The Saltaires Barbershop Chorus created a CD when I was singing with them. I thought we were SO good. I listened to it a couple of years after I quit singing with them. We sucked. Big time. It's embarrassing because I'm part of the crappy group that's singing on the CD.

8. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? I think so, though if I'm like all other people, I'd be the kind of friend that doesn't get annoyed when I call, but doesn't go out of his way to actually initiate contact--not even something simple like spending two minutes a couple of times a year to send an email. I'm a very forgettable "out of sight, out of mind" type of person, even for members of my own family.

9. Do you have a journal? You're reading it.

10. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Not a lot, and usually only exaggeratedly for comic effect.

11. What are your nicknames? Growing up, I had a friend named Shawn, and since I was named DeShawn, my friends started calling me Dee to minimize confusion. It caught on for a while, but mostly died out during Junior High, when I had no friends and therefore nobody to call me by a nickname. I have one aunt and one brother that still call me Dee.

12. Would you bungee jump? Nope. I'm terrified of heights. I had to go up on the roof of my old house to take down the satellite dish (to take with me to the new place) and I was terrified. Actually, now that I think about it, THAT was the last time I cried. I was up there on the roof, clinging to the stupid dish, crying like a baby.

13. Do you untie your shoes before you take them off? Not usually. We don't wear shoes in the house, so being able to slip shoes on and off saves a lot of time.

14. Do you think that you are strong? My lower body is quite strong. My upper body has always been weak and probably will be. I blame genetics. And fatness.

15. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk.

16. Shoe size? 10.

17. Red or pink? Sure. Why not?

18. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? Right now, it's my level of physical fitness, or lack thereof. But I have no motivation to get back on my road bike and start shedding pounds. Hopefully, as the weather gets better and the basement is done, I'll be able to spend my lunch hours riding.

19. What do you miss most? I miss having my house feel like my house. Right now, we have workers that can come and go at will. It'll be nice to not wonder who is going to show up today.

20. Do you want everyone you send this to, to send it back? Sure. Why not? Though, I won't send this to anyone.

21. What color pants/shoes are you wearing? I'm wearing semi-faded blue jeans and brown shoes.

22. What are you listening to right now? I'm listening to other keyboards around me going clickety-click.

23. Last thing you ate? A cheap frozen burrito.

24. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Let's see... (going to crayola.com) I'll say Prussian Blue, which, in 1958, was renamed Midnight Blue in response to teachers' requests.

25. What is the weather like right now? The weather's always the same in my cubicle. Outside, the sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and it's in the 50's I think.

26. Last person you talked to on the phone? Mrs. Mr. Me.

27. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Eyes. I love the wide variety of eye colors that isn't covered by blue, brown, and green.

28. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yep. I most certainly do.

29. Favorite drink? Root beer, preferrably home-brewed. If not, then something sold in glass bottles like Henry Weinhards or IBC Root Beer. In a pinch, A&W from a 2-liter bottle will do, though it's not as good as the stuff you can get from the A&W restaurants.

30. Favorite sport? Cycling. I need to get back on my road bike.

31. Do you wear contacts? I used to, but I had LASIK surgery a couple of years ago. (I'm still seeing 20/15. WOOHOO!)

32. Favorite food? I LOVE a good steak. I has to be a good cut of meat and it has to be prepared properly. DO NOT overcook it! When I say MEDIUM, I mean MEDIUM, not medium-well. Usually, in Utah, I order my steak medium-rare and it comes back medium. Outside the state, they seem to know how to properly cook a steak.

33. Last movie you watched? I watched Flushed Away the other night. It was pretty funny. I especially loved the slugs.

34. Favorite day of the year? The day in the spring when the most trees are in full blossom. I could drive around all day just looking. Better yet, I could ride around with someone else. THEY could drive and I could look.

35. Scary movies or happy endings? Scary movies. I enjoy a movie that messes with your mind--freaking you out from the inside--not the kind that tries to gross you out or startle you with tons of jump scenes.

36. Winter or summer? Summer. I hate driving in ice and snow.

37. Hugs or kisses? Both, together.

38. What is your favorite dessert? I'm not picky. I don't really like brownies, and please don't befoul my chocolate with peanut butter. Other than that, bring it on! I'll eat it! I'm getting fatter just THINKING about all the different desserts I love.

39. What books are you reading? I'm reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with my younger son, but other than that, I've been buried in scripts for a while. Now that I'm "off book" in my current production, I'm looking for something new to read.

40. What’s on your mouse pad? I don't use a mouse pad. Or a mouse, for that matter. Using a mouse causes pain for me--carpal tunnel-type pain. I use a Logitech TrackMan Marble. It's stationary and the cursor is controlled with the thumb. Since it just sits there, no mouse pad is necessary. It drives my boss batty when he comes over to use my computer, so I have a mouse hooked up too. It sits on the Dell mousepad that shipped with my work computer.

41. What did you watch on TV last night? A Food Network Challenge.

42. Favorite smells? Steaks on the grill, roses, REAL vanilla (not that imitation crap).

43. Favorite sound? GOOD harmony, especially a capella voices.

44. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Beatles

45. What’s the furthest you’ve been from your home? A couple of years ago, I traveled to the Munich area on business.

46. Do you have a special talent? I have a way of making people feel at ease around me.

47. What is your ring tone? The theme from The Odd Couple. I put it on when I in rehearsals for The Odd Couple and haven't changed it yet.

There. Is that long enough for you?

Sometimes, the solution to a difficult problem is to throw your hands up in the air and walk away.

I know that what I'm saying seems to go against everything about success that you've ever heard.

• Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never! ~Winston Churchill
• Fall seven times, stand up eight. ~Japanese Proverb
• He conquers who endures. ~Persius
• When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

I'm not saying that one should ALWAYS be a quitter, but once in a while, giving up is the right thing to do.

This morning, for example, I was working on a problem at work. There were two ways of doing what I needed to do, and both should have been working identically. SHOULD HAVE BEEN. When I tried it one way, it worked perfectly. When I tried it the other way (the way that I was TRYING to get to work right), it would fail for no apparent reason.

As of this morning, I had exhausted every possible way of figuring out the problem. I had tried everything I could think of, everything everyone on my team could think of, and everything everyone on a couple of other teams could think of. We're talking serious dead end here.

So I gave up.

I conceded defeat and explained the less-than-ideal method to the person I was working with and walked him through the process I had created. The process that worked perfectly for me FAILED for him. But this was good news! Because of the failure he was seeing, the reason for the failure I was having on the "preferred" method became crystal clear to me, and an hour later, everything was working exactly as I had hoped it would.

Sometimes, you just have to give up. This time, surrender led to a solution that would have taken a lot longer if I had continued to figure out what was wrong.

No, they're NOT done with the basement.   No, I'm NOT surprised.

I'll be a bit upset if they're not done by Friday though.

We played table tennis downstairs yesterday.  It was a lot of fun.  But it still doesn't feel like that part of the house is ours yet.  It'll be nice when we don't have to worry about workers showing up every day.  Not that they actually ARE showing up every day, because the last couple of weeks, it's been hit and miss.

So FINISH ALREADY!!!  I want to hook up my home theater and LEAVE IT hooked up.  Yes, I'm VERY impatient.  And to be perfectly honest, I don't have any reason to be.  They're not scheduled to be done until the 27th, and that's still two and a half weeks away.

Well, the new range is pretty well broken in. I found a recipe that I wanted to try on foodnetwork.com. It's a Lemon Layer Cake. Here's the recipe:

Lemon Cake
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large whole eggs, at room temperature
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup whole milk

To make the lemon cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans. Dust the pans with flour and tap out the excess.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir together the dry ingredients with a whisk. Set aside.
In an electric stand mixer, using the paddle attachment or beaters, beat the butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds, or until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, increase the speed to medium-high, and continue to beat until the mixture is light, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the whole eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in he lemon juice (the batter will appear curdled at this point smooth out after you add the dry ingredients). Beat in the dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another 10 seconds. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans.
Bake the cakes for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks for 20 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the rakcs and cool completely.

Lemon Filling
2 large egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup heavy cream

To make the lemon filling, in a medium nonreactive saucepan, whisk together the yolks and sugar until combined. Whisk in the lemon juice, butter, and salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the mixture turns opaque, thickens, and coats the back of the spoon. Do not let the filling boil, or it will curdle. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Stir in the lemon zest and allow the filling to cool.
Cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto the surface, and refrigerate for 1 hour, or until chilled.
In a clean bowl of the electric mixer, using the whisk attachment or beaters, beat the heavy cream on high speed until soft peaks form. Remove the lemon filling from the refrigerator and whisk until smooth. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the filling. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the filling until ready to assemble the cake.

Lemon Frosting:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

To make the lemon frosting, in the large bowl of the electric mixer, using the paddle attachment or beaters, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar on low speed. Add the cream, lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon zest. Increase the speed to medium-high, and beat for about 3 minutes, or until the frosting is light and fluffy.

To assemble the cake, place 1 cake layer on a serving plate. Pile the lemon filling onto the center using a small offset metal spatula, and spread it into an even layer, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge of the cake layer. Top with the second cake layer. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the lemon frosting. (If some of the filling oozes out from the middle, just blend it with the frosting around the sides of the cake.) Serve the cake immediately, or refrigerate and bring to room temperature before serving.

When I made it, the cake fell a little. I think I had it too low in the oven and after buying an oven thermometer, I also know that the oven was 5 to 10 degrees too low. So I calibrated the oven and we tried it again today. My wife's banana bread came out perfectly.

I also made one of my very favorite recipes of all time today. I guess I've been cooking more, because it didn't seem as hard today as it did last time I made it.

Lasagna Deliciosa
8 oz lasagna noodles
1 lb hot italian sausage
1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt
1 1/2 tsp basil leaves
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/4 tsp pepper
1 28-oz can tomatoes, broken up
2 6-oz cans tomato paste
1 egg, beaten
1 15-oz container ricotta cheese
1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup olives, sliced
1 lb. mozarella cheese, grated
3/4 cup parmesan cheese wedge, grated

Prepare lasagna noodles according to directions. Drain. Cook sausage and ground beef. Drain. Add onion and garlic. Stir and cook 5 minutes. Add next 7 ingredients (sugar through tomato paste) and simmer 20 minutes. Combine egg, ricotta, parsley, and 1/2 tsp salt. In bottom of a 9x13 dish, spoon about 1 1/2 cups meat sauce. Layer 1/3 of the lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the meat sauce, 1/3 of the ricotta, 1/3 of the sliced olives, 1/3 of the mozarella, and 1/3 of the parmesan. Repeat the layering. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 25 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

They SAY that they're going to be done with the basement today or tomorrow.

I don't see it. There's just too much to be done. WAY too much. I'll be happy if it actually happens, but I'm not holding my breath.

The good news is that they will probalby actually be done sometime next week and we'll have our home back. I'll be able to hang the blinds and hook up the home theater system and put the projector mount in. I'm excited!

The bad news is that they COULD HAVE been done by today or tomorrow. They really could have. They haven't done much in the past three days at all.

I guess I just need to have patience.

I'll post pictures of the finished product.

I installed the new range last night. It wasn't a big deal. It was as simple as attaching the power cord (basically, tightening 6 screws) plugging it in, and sliding it back into place.

It's pretty nice, actually. The oven heats up faster than the old one. I turned the oven on to about 425 degrees for a half hour last night, just to burn off the initial smell. Ovens are stinky when you first use them. I don't know exactly what it is that stinks so much, but it'll be nice to have that gone.

My son didn't want eggs this morning, or I would have actually cooked on the new cooktop. I'm going to have to find a good recipe and bake something tonight. I'm off to foodnetwork.com to see what I can find!

Of course, if anyone reading this has a favorite recipe, please post it in a comment. Maybe I'll break in the new oven with YOUR recipe!