Misc summer stuff....

It's &%#$*@$ HOT!

Just a little break would be nice. We've been alternating sweltering/raining here for the last few weeks with 1 day here or there that is salvageable to do something.

Bad, but possible good news down the road.
Our YMCA is rebuilding. The problem is they need to close and sell the old property before they build a new one. The Chicago Metro YMCA requires that all new sites be 2 acres or more. This requirement has already queered the deal on another (closer) Y having all but $100,000 to build anew on a site very close to our home. "The City" decided to develop the land as senior condos instead (Because the developers had the cash on hand) on the eave of the deadline for the Y to come up with the $$$. That Y admitted they would not have made the deadline in time, but had asked for a one month extension which they still feel to this day they could have met.
Two years since the opening of the condos....they are not even 1/3 occupied.
This is very nerve racking for our Y as the land cost in the area of the Y is just off the scale of what they can possibly afford (IMO). They would need some type of gift of land grant to get that much land in the area.
Our kids go to swim class year round, and the cost of the classes is high enough to justify a membership for the cost reduction alone. As a stop gap, they plan to use the facilities of local High School gyms and pools to continue classes. I can't possible justify paying for a membership at the current cost when there is not a full service facility to go with it. I don't see how many folks would. The loss in membership fees alone could possibly doom the new facility project.
When the other closer Y failed to be built, rather than look for another site, the Metro Y decided to absorb the money into other projects. I have the feeling that's going to happen again with ours. As it is, our Y has (they claim) millions of dollars in deferred maint cost that have to paid upon the sale of the current property....which I think forecasts doom for another to ever be built.
*sigh*

Guitar Camp update:
We got 1 less kid than we expected, but the other 5 kids are working hard, and are doing pretty good...albeit at a much slower pace than I expected (including my kid).

Nutty Neighbor alert!
The last week of school, the neighbor south of us went out and bought all the materials to build a fence along their south neighbors lot line. The current cyclone fence there belongs to that neighbor, and she didn't want it replaced with a wood fence, so she refused to let them put their fence up (you can't install a fence next to another fence in "The City" without that neighbors permission). So as I left to pick up the girls from school, I noticed he was peeling back the fence on our side (which IS his). I asked him "So you're finally going to put that fence up your Mrs wants eh?". He dejectedly said yes and explained the above situation. I told him after I got back, that I'd move my yard stuff over to accommodate their work and was very friendly about it. Yes, it would have been nice to be asked first if it was O.K. to put the fence up, but I figured it's his fence, and if he wants to spend the money, that's up to him. As it stands, we have always been friendly, but not really "friends". We've both helped each other out on occasion, but we are not bosom buddies by any stretch. Their kids ages are staggered from my own, so they are not really playmates, though we did let them play out front now and then. The dad and I have always been nice to each other, though his Mrs has rotating hate bouts with just about everyone on the block. From the get-go, I thought the fence was a good thing (I had a contractor give me a quote on a fence along that property line the year before last), and if I didn't have to pay for it, all the better! My Mrs was upset they never even asked, but after talking it out with her, she agreed it was (in the end) a good thing. We had a small section of wooden fence in the alley that connected with their old cyclone fence. Before he was done, he asked me what I wanted to do with that as it did not line up with his new fence. I told him I'd remove it and shorten it to connect to his new fence. I removed one of the posts, shortened the fence and mounted the half on my side, and showed him it would line up, I then removed it to allow them to work, he agreed that it was a good solution and said he would mount it when he was done (as I had a lot of hours to work that weekend). On the Sunday after he completed it I noticed when I got up, he didn't use my section, and just extended his span to go along my garage edge (about 20 inches of fence). I thought that was nice and planned to go over and give him a few bucks for his time and materials. They had people over that day, so I decided to see him later in the day. Meanwhile I proceeded to do my yearly garage scrub (bring down the bikes, power wash the garage floor, organize my stuff, etc). As I was just finishing this, he drunkenly stumbled in my garage and accused me of throwing pieces of wood on his sisters car (that was parked in the alley). I didn't even (at first) understand what he was trying to say his speech was so garbled. I made the mistake of trying to reason with a drunk, and he continued to scream. My Mrs heard this and came bounding out of the house and gave him (as I should have) the bum's rush. She scared him off pretty good and he RAN out of our garage.
I have the stance that you should never mess with other peoples stuff if you don't want your own messed with. I'm pretty sure after 4 years of being neighbors he understood that. We have helped these people again and again; including calling 911 for their epileptic son (and waiting for the ambulance while the mom had a spaz attack and was effectively useless), lending them power (via multiple extension cords) when they had their power turned off for three days (forgot to pay their bill), to even snow-blowing their front sidewalk in the winter (I usually go about halfway up the block and do everyone's if I have time). It's clear to us that the fence they put up is figurative as well as physical. While I can't possibly fathom the reason for it, we are probably better off that it's there.

BTW...the Flag disappeared just a few days after the drunken conflict.