Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Lets do the Time Warp

Alright boys and girls, let's fire up the Delorean and do 88 mph....

Micah, sitting in my truck, June 2002



My Dad, June 2002, holding my angry nephew


Andy, Sean and Micah. These guys are all in college now. May 2002



My friend Brandon



My friend Jason on his wedding day. He and his wife are expecting their first child.


Me...June 4, 2002

ME again, better side shot of me rockin' the sideburns


I remember that being a great summer. That August, a group of us went on a mission trip to the Texas/Mexico border. The shot of my Dad is from a family reunion in Peoria. I had been in Milwaukee three years at the point. It's now been eight years, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Another Tuesday, another sales meeting for work...good food though.

It's becoming the time of year I started not liking a few years ago...not because I don't like Christmas, but because I don't like what Christmas has become to many people. All the shopping, Black Friday, this toy, that gadget...drives me crazy.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

thanks

Thanks


Thanks to all my friends that read this blog.

Thanks to Holly for being simply Amazing.

Thanks to God for everything, for Holly, work, play, church.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

weekend kicks

so, what does one do in Milwaukee on a given weekend? Go see a band of course!!

Saturday night, my friend Bettina's band Albatross was playing at Smoking Joe's in West Allis and I was encouraged to come check them out. Albatross is local cover band with a few originals. Gotta say, I was really impressed. Overall, they've got a tight sound and a good sized set list that spans rock and pop from the 70s to today. Click on the entry title for a link to their website.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Imapean, European

Your Inner European is Irish!

Sprited and boisterous!
You drink everyone under the table.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Winter is trying to push fall aside...since fall arrived late I guess winter thinks it can start early.

My ache from Saturday is mostly gone. Laid 2000' of pipe for the new dining hall over at camp and made some great progress so the gang can get the floor poured soon.

webcam shot

take peek during daylight hours.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Rest in Peace Dustin

Dustin Paul Larson
1981-2007

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
GERLAW - Dustin Paul Larson, 26, of Gerlaw, died at 6:55 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 21, 2007) at OSF Holy Family Medical Center, Monmouth, Ill.

He was born Oct. 12, 1981, in Monmouth, Ill., the son of John and Paula (Bushong) Larson. He was raised and educated in Monmouth and attended Monmouth High School.

Dustin worked at Farmland as a forklift driver since 1999. He enjoyed 4 wheeling and following and attending NASCAR events. But most of all he loved spending time with his son.
Surviving are his son, Logan Larson of Monmouth; mother, Paula (Tim) Lay of Monmouth; father, John Larson of Little York; one sister, Mary Beth (Matt) Giddings of Kirkwood; one brother, Brian (Suzanna) Larson of Monmouth; maternal grandparents, Stewart (Mary) Bushong of Monmouth; paternal grandparents, Phil (Dixie) Larson of Little York; several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his stepgrandparents and great-grandparents.
Funeral service will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, at Hoover-Hall Memorial Chapel, Monmouth, with the Rev. Ken Muck of Countryside Bible Church officiating. Burial will be in Monmouth Cemetery. Friends may call on today, Oct. 23, at Hoover-Hall Memorial Chapel, Monmouth, where his family will be present from 6-8 p.m.

Memorials may be given to the Logan Larson Trust Fund.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

That phone call you don't ever want to get

7:20pm Sunday night

My step-dad calls. My cousin Dustin died in an atv accident.

I haven't seen my cousin in a few years, but it still stings. I don't know any other details right now, and I'm waiting for my mom to call me later on to fill me in.

You never know when, or how, you might go. I'm 31 and I still have that arrogant sense of "I'm going to live forever."

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

In the midst of what will turn out to be a busy week, I sit down tonight at home and just rest. I don't really have the energy to do much more than that. The tired feeling has returned and I'm not sure why. It could be the fall out from my late Saturday night fixing a client's computer, or it could be the weather change and my body is trying to fight off my fall bought of bronchitis. Work hasn't been terribly difficult that last couple days, as I'm in Waukesha; there are busy times, but for the most part, it's calm.

Business meeting at church tomorrow night

I think Thursday is open

Friday, picking up a bedframe with Holly, then off to set up Upward registration, which is Saturday.

Saturday, I have a client scheduled. I was planning on going to Chicago that night for a birthday party, but now I'm not so sure.

Anxious. That's how I feel. Anxious. Maybe that's what's draining me.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

a night at home to reflect

As usual, I've had alot on my mind lately.

opportunities....some of which I may share later.

Starting Monday, I'm back at the main office in Brookfield for work...it makes what I do much easier without having to worry about leaving Joe by himself at the store.

I've put over 1600 miles on my car in 3 weeks.

I've had a few people tell me that they miss me lately. I miss them too.

Monday, September 24, 2007

so....what's new with you??

not much here...same soup different bowl for the most part.

not on the road as much this month for work.

bought a new car a couple weeks back....the Explorer was just too thirsty...the Focus is much nicer on gas.

Chicago was fun...pictures soon...

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

places of interest...

So, this is at least part of my Friday with Holly, photographing these locations...


I'm still trying to find the Adams Street Bridge...

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

things on my mind...

The prevailing thought I have lately is to be pro-active. So often in my life, I've been able to draft off someone else and help broaden their experience/ministry, and I get to be part of it without being the one who spearheads things. I'm told by those close to me that I am a leader; that people will listen to me, and perhaps follow me, and yet, I do nothing. I wait.

I stepped out of 4:12 (the college and career ministry at my church), not because I felt too old, but because I felt it was time to do something else. I feel a pull towards men's ministry, yet there isn't much of that currently. I want to help get something going, but will it be as one who heads it up, or as one who helps enable those who lead?. I wait.

I love Holly more than even I can describe with words. We both know that we want to spend the rest of our lives together, and we've talked of wedding plans and looked at rings and so on and so on. I don't have the money for a ring, nor have I asked her dad for her hand in marriage. I wait.

I enjoy my job, even when there are snags. I'm told that, in time, I'll be given a store to manage. I continue to learn more about the products I sell and how to do my job better. I wait.

At what point do I stop waiting, and start doing? What do I have to be afraid of? I don't feel afraid or fearful, just uncertain. Uncertain of what step to take, to make a mistake, to do something wrong; and yet, waiting in and of itself feels wrong. Perhaps this is why I don't sleep at night...My conscious is not clean, filled with doubt and guilt. I know that the grace of God covers a multitude of sins, but I don't accept that grace. Instead, I somehow think that given enough time, by waiting, the answer will just appear.

Monday, August 13, 2007



So....I don't think I'm THIS conservative....but I found this hilarious :P

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Surviving State Fair

ok..so I live across the street from the Wisconsin State Fair. To be honest, it really hasn't bothered me much..

however, there IS a reason I'm posting this...

it seems that everyone who owns a house within 10 block of State Fair is renting their lawn for parking. I walked across the street to get a burger tonight, and coming home, I noticed that people put ramps down, so the renters wouldn't have a hard time hopping the curb.

Also...

Everyone is out, flagging people down to park in their yard...old people, kids, dogs....all with flags to get your attention. They look right at you, expectantly. News Flash...I live here!!!

Aside from that, it's been fine. The noise peaks around 11pm. I'm used to Harley's racing down 84th or Greenfield at this point, so that doesn't bother me so much.

At least these people aren't around when I'm leaving for work in the morning...

Monday, July 23, 2007

seasons

So this whole growing up thing feels overrated...I'm not really fond of bills, getting out of bed before the crack of noon, doing dishes or anything like that...

yet

I enjoy my paycheck, I don't mind getting up for work and I like my truck.

31 doesn't feel old most days, but then again, it feels older than I've ever been

The decisions I make now tend be "feel" more adult. I've stepped out of one group at church to, hopefully, grow another one. It wasn't that I didn't feel welcome anymore, but I felt time for a change...as if to take another step into adult hood. Sounds funny coming from me, doesn't it?

now 5:30am doesn't sound so early, and bed at 10:30pm feels late. I find myself enjoying quiet evenings, just the ballgame on in the background; or the lakefront at sundown, just before it cools off too much; dinner with Holly...

I don't know that my character or personality will change much...after all, I'm Chad freakin' Hohner...there's only one and one is more than enough...but how that character and personality comes out may be different...with tact and substance I hope.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

just another day

just another Wednesday in my life with nothing too exciting to report.

changes at work perhaps? I'll know more (officially) soon.

other adjustments? My Sunday evenings are now open.

gas prices suck.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Friday, June 29, 2007

vacation!!

I have the next few days off as I'm taking some vacation from work. I picked this time of year as we already get 4th of July off, so why not extend it and take off the 2nd and 3rd as well?

I walked into work this morning, knowing that I had a half day, then off for about a week. To my surprise, the guy the swings around and covers stores is there. I was told he wasn't available, and that Joe would need to cover the store by himself after I left at noonish. So I got the whole day off.

tonight, "Much Ado About Nothing" out in Spring Green, tomorrow night, Chicago with Holly. Tuesday fireworks at the lakefront. Everything else is wide open at this point.

I'm hoping to capitalize on my time off and get some projects taken care of. I've got a couple of computers on my bench to finish up, and hopefully I can schedule some clients as well.

What's new with you? Maybe it's summer, but it seems like some blogs I read have slowed down...mine was no exception. Drop me a line :)

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Father's Day??

cat jokes

there's a meme on the internet now regarding cats....this is one of them

Friday, June 1, 2007

worth a laugh

came across this one tonight

Sunday, May 27, 2007

that helpless feeling

Holly and I ventured down to Chicago Saturday night to visit a friend and have dinner at this cool little Italian place near our friend's apartment. Great food, great conversation and a chance to encourage our friend as she moves through some decisions in her life.

On our way home, we were westbound on Peterson Ave. heading back to the interstate, when at a stoplight, we saw a homeless man. He was standing in between the two westbound lanes near the stoplight, holding a sign that basically stated"I'm homeless and hungry...will you help me?"

I wanted to help him, but I didn't. I don't like just giving money; I'd much rather take him somewhere and buy him a meal. I noticed it disturbed Holly that there was a homeless man in the road...disturbed not by the man himself, but by the condition he was in.

it's almost three hours later, and I still feel the urge to drive back down to Chicago to find that man and take him somewhere to eat. I passed numerous restaurants on the way back to the interstate, and yet I kept driving. Was I worried about my safety? For Holly's? I certainly wasn't in a hurry to get home.

I felt moved to the point of compassion, but in the end, didn't move at all

Saturday, May 5, 2007

a day off

slept in this morning, got up, started cleaning my apartment, which was much needed; more to clean still, but I've made a decent dent. Picked up a shelf unit to organize some stuff in my place.

Heard some cars buzzing the Mile...walked over to check it out. I know Sunday there's a charity letting people take their personal vehicle on the Mile for a donation of some sort...I guess it was also happening today.

Detailed my truck...and while I was doing that, one of my neighbors was on her way out...got to chat with her for a bit before she took off.

off to see Spiderman 3 tonight...Sandman!!!

Sunday, April 22, 2007

what the future may hold

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord..
Jeremiah 29:11-14a

To Start my week, I'll be on my own at our West Bend store. It's a one man store, so I have the chance to be very busy. I've been told this is a test to see how well I've progressed, and to gauge my potential as a store manager with Hein. I'm both excited and anxious about it. Obviously, excited due to a potential promotion.

Anxious...let's explore that: I've only been in the electrical supply business for 11 months. I've learned a TON, but there's still quite a bit I don't feel I have a good grasp on. Enter my boss Ron. I emailed Ron a couple weeks ago, asking him what opportunities were coming within the company, and what I should be doing to position myself for those opportunities. Ron stopped by the store I work at in Menomonee Falls and we chatted about it. Basically, I'm in the future plans for the company.

We'll see how things go, and what lies ahead



Monday, April 16, 2007

can't sleep

I hate it when I can't sleep. I have too much on my mind and I'm worrying about all of it.

A shot of scotch to calm me down and hopefully dull what worries me.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

overall thoughts from the last few days...

TMNT....I giggled through the entire movie...loved it..

The Gonzalez deal in D.C.: just another attempt to derail the Bush Administration. Clinton fired ALL 93 Federal prosecutors in 1993 without so much as a fart from Congress, yet Bush fires 8 for not doing their job and it's a witch hunt...hmmmm

Take me out to the ballgame: Opening Day is Monday!! I'll be there :P

I'm dual booting Windows and Linux on my laptop, with 2 Linux desktops and one Windows desktop.

more randomness to come

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

oo oo...my turn!!

some pictures





I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was going to the Chicago Auto Show. Here's a couple of shots of me with cars I can't afford :)

Thursday, March 8, 2007

meh

Forgive me Blogger, for I have sinned; it's been 10 days since my last post

Well, 31 has come...so far, it's just like 30

Spring could arrive soon and I wouldn't complain

I'm aching to see a live band...as luck would have it, I can do that next Saturday...

work goes well; Joe and I have a mutual respect for each other and a common goal. Makes going in to work easier :)

The Linux experiment continues...I've changed distros (type of Linux) so we'll see how this goes.

I'm trying to take my lunch to work....so far 3 days in a row...tomorrow will be 4 :P

Spent a good deal of last Sunday with Holly trying to get her car taken care of. It seems her oil pan cracked and was leaking oil. By the time church got out, it was out of oil. A couple of folks had noticed it, so she wasn't going to drive off....that would have been bad...I took a look and couldn't see an easy fix, so I took her home, and explained things to her folks while she changed. Her Dad suggested checking to make sure the oil filter was tight, so Holly and I headed back to the church to check. No dice...call AAA to get a tow truck...the wait is anywhere from 20 minutes to almost 2 hours. We run to grab lunch and wait. At about 3:30 the tow truck arrives. We follow him down to Wilde Toyota to drop the car off. Back to my place for a while then off to church for 4:12. Drop Holly off at home then come home and crash myself. Come to find out the oil pan cracked somehow and wouldn't hold any oil...I'm glad she was able to make it to church and wasn't on the freeway between Milwaukee and Madison when it went dry...

I think...thatisall

Monday, February 26, 2007

and so another year has past

31

huh...30 didn't feel so bad.

I wonder what this year will bring.

Friday, February 23, 2007

all good things come to an end

it would appear that Morpheus has died...Morpheus...that's my laptop.

All I know is that is he was running fine when I left my apartment to get dinner across the street, and when I came back...black screen. I've troubleshot everything, short of completely disassembling him, but I'm not sure that would help.

thank you in advance for your sympathy

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

100

to celebrate my 100th post, I'm letting everyone know that I've now gone Linux full time. I desired a new challenge on the computer front, and since I can't afford a new Mac and don't want Vista, I went with Linux. I found a nice primer on Suse (Soo-say) 10.2 that gives me all the functionality of Windows or OS X.

I turn 31 next Tuesday...go me

Thursday, February 8, 2007

STEAK N SHAKE!!!


IT'S HERE!! IT'S HERE!! IT'S HERE!! IT'S HERE!! IT'S HERE!! IT'S HERE!! did I mention IT'S HERE?


yeah...so I'm a little excited...ten minutes away instead of fifty...yes, I drove to Gurnee JUST for Steak 'n' Shake, and I took a few of you with me.

I was able to eat at the new SnS in Wauwatosa tonight after work. They're in training mode, so I expected a few hiccups. My server was polite and did a good job, and the food was good....although...the burger tasted a wee bit different than I recall. I'm sure they'll get things ironed out. I found it amusing to be a seasoned veteran in a sea of rookies. The place was full...reminded me of the good ol' days in Pekin, after going out on a Saturday night, heading to the SnS for food.

Busy busy busy lately. My days have been up by 6am, work at 7 til 4:30, then off to a client in the evening, home by 9 or so...wind down...head to bed by 10-10:30. Lather rinse repeat.

Chicago Auto Show this weekend. I'm going with Holly's Dad and Brother-in-law. Should be really cool

I'm getting tired of the cold. It's not so much the cold really, but the wind. And the dryness...my hands are dry. My nose dries out while I sleep, and I wake up having breathed thru my mouth, and my throat is dry as well. Time to snag a humidifier.

Superbowl was fun to watch...even if it rained the entire game.

Daytona.....mmmmmm...racecars.

Monday, January 22, 2007

so.....

so while my Windows box is updating, I'll post from my Linux box :P

Things are going well lately. Work is going smoothly. I believe part of it is my adjustment in attitude that I may very well have a career that I have landed in, as well as the new store. Joe's been in a fair mood lately, so that helps.

I'm going to bed at a reasonable hour, so I can sleep at night and not drag my tail the next day. I've also stopped caffeinating after 8pm on most night, so I sleep better. It seems to be helping as I feel more rested when I wake up.

The hardest part of my day...is getting out of bed. Once I'm out of bed, I'm golden...it's throwing back the covers and setting my feet on the floor that seems to be difficult.

"Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life" Proverbs 22:4

Sunday, January 7, 2007

how do you see yourself?


So, how do you see yourself?

I made this little picture at www.weemee.com, courtesy of a link from my friend Julie

How'd I do?

Friday, January 5, 2007

a cold caught me

Forgive me Blogger, it's been 19 days since my last post

it's Friday night, and I'm home sick. Head cold. I don't say "I caught a cold", I say "a cold caught me" because I don't go looking to catch colds.

The walgreens across the street has a layout in mind like a grocery store, meaning, you have to walk to the far back corner for cough medicine and vitamins.

Shockingly, I did NOT get carded when buying my Tylenol Cold Multi-sypmtom ("NEW!"), so it must not have any ingredients capable of producing meth.

I want my head to stop hurting. It feels like it's in a vice. The only time it hasn't lately is when I came home early from work and laid down. If I lay on my back, my headache ebbs and my sinuses open up a bit, but I can only lay down for so long without falling asleep. I have the Bucks game on my clock radio, but even that can't keep me from wanting to do SOMETHING..ANYTHING..but be sick.

the night air on the walk over to Walgreens felt nice, even though it's weird to have a January evening be 45 degrees. I wonder if the warmer temps have anything to do with my cold, perhaps some germs that didn't die off due to the weather not getting cold enough...

bleah