August 2019 – Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

How does my back garden grow (2019 edition)?

Well, that’s an interesting question. You may recall that I mentioned some critters in my yard when I posted about the garden back in June. As you can see from my squash plants, the critters are well fed. Their growth was stunted by having all their leaves chewed off earlier in the season; the spattering of flowers was late and did not produce any fruit.

In fact, this is about what they looked like back in June; they’ve regrown back to this from being woodchuck food. Meanwhile, the woodchucks have discovered the bird feeder, along with the birds, squirrels, a pair of young skunks, and an opossum. We’re doing a fine job of keeping the neighborhood fed.

But that’s a bit disappointing from a gardening perspective. I recently discovered that there are hibiscus plants that are hardy enough to survive in our planting zone (5), so I decided to repurpose the back vegetable beds for some pretty flowers. Of course, this type of gardening isn’t instantaneous; in face, I don’t expect to see flowers until next year, assuming the hibiscus survive the critters and the winter. But just in case, I picked a couple different types, and hopefully we’ll have a variety of flowers.

If not… well, garden planning resets in the winter anyways.

Lickity Split – ice cream and more

On our way to black belt camp last weekend, we missed our first lunch choice (my fault) and bypassed our second (not realizing yet that we had missed our first), so we found ourselves in Brookston, Indiana searching for a late lunch. For anybody not familiar with Brookston, the Wikipedia entry for the town shows it’s total area as 0.66 square miles with just over 1,500 residents as of the 2010 census. A quick map search showed a few restaurants nearby, but Lickity Split was the closest. We pulled in across from it, wondering if it was just ice cream, and noticed a sign mentioning other food options – hot dogs and burgers were available.

The other food options are a tiny portion of Lickity Split’s menu… you could get lost in their ice cream/milkshake/malt options. When we ordered, we were warned that the fries would take 10 minutes… that didn’t seem like long until the milkshakes were served after about 2 minutes and the burgers after 5. Talk about fast! I had just finished my burger when the fries arrived; we actually discussed ordering a second burger each because of how fast they were ready and how hungry we were.

The other great thing about their milkshakes (I ordered butterscotch) was the size. A small milkshake was actually just that, a single serving milkshake. While I love a good Oberweis milkshake, I typically split it across multiple meals because of the size, but the Lickity Split small milkshake was perfectly sized to finish with our meal. Even if we eat somewhere else some years, this will be a good place to pick up a milkshake on the way to or from camp.

Going on a Lego hunt

As I mentioned when we visited the Brick Safari at Brookfield Zoo, the nearby Morton Arboretum happens to have a Lego exhibit this summer as well. Whereas the Lego animals at the zoo were all life-sized, most of the ones at the Arboretum are far larger than their living counterparts. Our first Lego encounter was with a bee composed of 16,383 Lego bricks, which took 200 hours to build; our last was the Monarch butterfly, with almost 40,000 bricks and 425 build hours. Imagine spending all the time assembling Lego. And getting paid to do it!

The Arboretum’s Lego exhibit includes fifteen displays, all within walking distance of the Visitor Center; if that’s all you see, you’ll walk about a mile. We walked a bit more than that, exploring the Children’s Garden as well. We visited on a rainy Sunday morning, so there weren’t a lot of people out and about; I think we only saw two other families in the Children’s Garden.

The sun emerged as we meandered through the Hedge Maze, vaguely looking for the promised nooks and crannies that harbored information on specific plants. As we finished off our Lego hunt, walking around a nearby lake, we emerged by the parking lot and a rock-bearing troll from the Arboretum’s Troll Hunt. We’ve seen the troll that’s visible from westbound I-88, but hadn’t managed to visit to see the other five trolls crafted from reclaimed wood that have been visiting for over a year now. We’ll have to go back to find the other four at some point.

Customer service matters.

I had two experiences recently that reminded me how a good customer service experience results in repeat business. In both cases, the business will be infrequent (I hope) due to the nature of the services they provide.

Last week, I had my annual eye exam. I went somewhere new – closer to home, even walkable when I have the time to spare. I found the location through my vision insurance website; the fact that is probably the closest eye doctor to my house is a bonus.

When I called to schedule, Park Family Eye Care was able to get me in the same week. While I appreciate that, it’s more lucky timing than customer service… they happened to have openings in the near future. I went through the usual pre-tests with an assistant, and then the vision test with the doctor. After a brief chat with the doctor, he walked me back out to the waiting area.

Anybody who’s been to the big chains knows this is where you normally get handed back to an assistant, as you agonize over which frames to pick and they upsell you on as many things as they can. That didn’t happen. In fact, the doctor helped me select frames, adding on just the extras needed based on our discussion. He then wrote up the itemized bill, took the appropriate measurements for the glasses, and only when that was done, passed me off to the front desk for payment.

In a similar vein, I had my dryer serviced this week. To be more specific, my dryer stopped spinning a couple weeks ago; fortunately the weather is nice for drying on a clothesline. I logged onto Next Door and asked for recommendations, hoping that I wouldn’t need to buy a new dryer quite yet. I received several recommendations, including one from a person who had experienced the same issue; I went with her recommendation and called West Suburban Appliance Repair.

When I called to schedule, I was told the diagnostic visit fee would be applied to the repair if I opted to repair the dryer with them. That was a good start.

The repairman assessed the problem fairly quickly – a broken belt – and happened to have a replacement for my make and model in his truck. He informed me of the cost before even checking his truck for the belt, then verified that I was approving the work at that price after confirming that he had the necessary piece. I know, that all seems super reasonable, but sometimes repairs around the house end up with surprise costs.

What caught my attention was the details at the end of his visit. Instead of just handing me the work order and running my credit card, he explained the details of the work order, including the manufacturer’s warranty on the part and the company’s warranty on the work. He literally went through every piece of information written on the work order… I’m not sure I’ve seen anybody do that before. He’s certainly at the top of my list to call if I need appliance repairs… though I hope not to.

Stepping back(ish) in history

Last weekend was our annual excursion to the Bristol Renaissance Faire, just across the border in Wisconsin. As with past visits, we always try to catch something classic and something new. This year, we started the day with a delightful performance titled “How Not To Die”. As we did not in fact die during it, I consider it to be a successful show. Tucked away at the small Military Encampment stage, this was an educational show – with audience participation – about medical knowledge in 1574. Blood and amputations were included.

We then went in search of food, and I realize that I haven’t discussed the food options at Faire before. There is a plethora of period inappropriate (fortunately) food available in an ever-expanding selection. The most traditional options at Bristol are the turkey legs (massive!) and the garlic mushrooms (delicious!), along with a tasty cup of sassafras. We had none of those on this trip. Well, except for the sassafras. There is literally something for everyone – between us, we ate iced creme crepes, shrimp and vegetable tempura, calzone, and some beef jerky. There are specialty coffee stands and an assortment of refreshing cold items – gelato, ice cream in various forms, along with cold beverages of alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties.

After we ate, we headed to Dirk & Guido’s second show of the day; it’s always a delightful experience. After a bit of shopping, we split into two groups for repeat experiences: Cirque du Sewer and Adam Crack’s Fire Whip show. Cirque du Sewer now features three cats that participate at will (really, at their will… they were not entirely cooperative this time), along with the rats and human stars of the show. Adam Crack taught an audience member to use a whip and let her swing it at his head.

Last weekend was cosplay weekend at Faire, which is why we saw Boba Fett (in a kilt), Ghostbusters, and even a weeping angel. There’s a different theme every weekend, which can be found on the Faire’s Facebook page.