[il-talk] quick brag

[Leslie Hamric]

Hi all.  I just wanted to let everyone know of some recent accomplishments
of mine since convention. First as some of you heard on the At Large call, I
got a new cello student.  So far, I have had two lessons with him and he's
doing very well.  He's been playing violin for 3 years and has decided to
switch to cello so I think having that kind of background is to his
advantage.  For now, working him will be short-term but here's hoping it
will turn into something long-term.  The second thing I wanted to let
everyone know is that I made steak fries in the deep fryer for the first
time.  They were the frozen kind so all I had to do was turn on the fryer,
wait for it to heat up, open it up, dump the fries in, and close it again.
What I like about our fryer is that when you touch the sides, they feel cool
to the touch.  The basket can also be raised and lowered with a handle on
the right side so you don't even have to touch the hot oil.  The fryer
clicks when it's to the desired temperature.  The controls are pretty easy
to work too.  I may have to add some markings down the road.  The fries
turned out just how we wanted them, golden brown on the outside and nice and
fluffy on the inside.  The third thing that happened today was that Andy,
Michael, and I had a nice afternoon at one of the water parks near our
house.  I find that even when I go to the pool or a water park, I'm more
secure having my cane with me.  A perfect example happened when Andy and
Michael went off to the other side of the water park and hadn't come back
yet.  I asked one of the lifeguards where they might have gone. After she
told me where they went, I was able to get there confidently and with good
verbal directions, of course.  It had turned out that Andy was just
finishing up putting more sunscreen on Michael so that was why they hadn't
come back yet.  Had I not had my cane with me, I would have been stuck
wondering and would have been unable to find them myself.  Just another
reason why knowing how to use the cane is so important.  So that's it for
now.  Take care and I hope everyone is staying cool from the heat.

Leslie