Rob_Haswell's Blog

Well, guys, I am back at it this week and you wouldn't believe where I am headed! 

Oh we've had some poop ridden jobs on the show before but this time I am going into the septic biz! 

Yes, we're pumpin' poop with the ol' honey wagon!  Eeeek!

And before you ask - yes I do have to climb right inside the tank itself! 

You gotta see this!

It's Tomorrow (Tuesday) between 6am and 9am!

Watch for my follow up post tomorrow and check out the new "Hey Rob Do My Job" site on myfox!  CLICK HERE

I thought I'd write a follow up to the "Hey Rob Do My Job" segment on Tuesday since I got so much feedback from viewers!

If you didn't see it, I was cleaning out the tanks on a paving truck.

This is a once a year job and requires climbing inside a 6 foot by 4 foot tub that is caked with dry asphalt and sealant.

The stuff is just full of chemicals and can cause burns on your skin but I was well covered and didn't really spend too much time in the tank.  It usually takes 6 hours to clean the whole thing but I had help from the owners so I was only there for a couple of hours.  Still it was enough.  The claustrophobia was bad  enough for a just a little while, I could never do it as long as was necessary to get it clean. 

The owner of the paving company was a great guy and really knows his stuff.  He also had some interesting stories about some of the challenges of the job like guys forgetting the proper foot wear and melting their sneakers!

It was hard to see on the video but the steam just poured off that crack filler tank and it was piping hot!  Scary stuff if you got that on you! 

Coming up on Tuesday the 13th, we'll be doing a septic job with Jam and Sons septic.  If you thought it was nasty in the paving tank - wait until you see the inside of a septic tank!

Well, you don' have to search the internet to find me wearing womens shoes - the picture is right here!

I was part of the big "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" even at Marquette university on Sunday. It is a great cause and we had a great day for it with sunny skies and comfy temperatures.

I would encourage you all - especially my male blog readers - to get out there next year and walk against violence against women.

On a light side-note - I don't think I look too bad in heels! What do you think?

As a follow up to the previous Tooth Fairy post, I thought you'd like to see the tooth is out and the child is happily enjoying his just rewards!



We opted to go with an idea my wife found on line where the Tooth Fairy delivers a very special wooden box filled with a coin from a different country and a story about how kids in that country leave their teeth for the Tooth Fairy!  It's fun, educational and instead of worrying about his buddies getting more money than he does he can feel special because he has a special Tooth Fairy box complete with a letter from the fairy herself!

Of course all that talk about the Tooth Fairy freaked the poor kid out and he wouldn't let us put the tooth in his room.  He wanted it out in the hall so the Tooth Fairy couldn't get into his room!  Too funny.

Well we've made it to the last day of April and what a month it has been!

We're ending the month in a fashion that might be more typical of early or mid-April!

We had some warm stuff this month with the warmest day being 78 in the 25th.  We had 3 days in the 70s and 9 days above 60!

We were treated well in the snow department with just 0.2" of snow when the seasonal average for the month is 2.6".

As to snow depth - the measurement of snow on the ground - we never had more than a trace measured all month long and that was just on April 1st after that we've been snow-free!

We did get a lot of rain with the total as of yesterday at 4.42" which is about three quarters of an inch above average.

We also had some windy days too with about a half dozen days featuring wind gusts in the upper 30s and into the mid 40s.

Yes, the Tooth Fairy is about to visit the Haswell house for the first time!

With all the other excitement in our lives - new baby and all - we weren't quite prepared for this next step in our oldest child's life. We brushed it off when he complained about tooth pain when he was eating an apple and then one day he says, " Hey look what my tooth can do" and proceeds to show us a tooth that's perpendicular to the rest of his mouth!

So then we thought, "how much does the Tooth Fairy give these days?". We'd heard everything from a dollar to 10 dollars and more! I got a quarter!

We've actually decided to go with an idea we found on line that involves foreign coins with a little story about how kids in other countries celebrate when they lose their baby teeth! We thought it would be a bit more memorable and would get around explaining why his tooth fairy brought a dollar and little Jimmy Richpants got 20 bucks for his molar!

How do you handle the Tooth Fairy tradition?

How much do you give and do you have any cool traditions?

Let me know!

Three days ago we had tornado watches and warnings and even one tornado near us.  Today it's snow that we're tracking. I am afraid that's just life in Wisconsin when Spring is here.

You know we've actually done very well this April for snow. We only got 0.2" so far and our average is 2.6.   However, late April is the time you expect the kind of weather we have had through much of the rest of the month so it's hard to take.  Especially since many in my neighborhood were mowing their lawns yesterday!

On the severe front, we did have a tornado on Friday.  Check out this map made by the Milwaukee/Sullivan office of the National Weather Service.



This is all just proof that Spring in Wisconsin can be unpredictable.

If you want to see more pictures of the damage you can CLICK HERE

Please be extra aware of the weather this Spring because there is some preliminary research that active Springs can follow the type of Winter we had this year.  You may need to ramp up your awareness and if you can afford it, purchase a NOAA WEATHER RADIO.

What a hoot we had for my oldest daughters birthday on Sunday at the My Little Pony show!


It was a lot of fun for the three little girls who attended the Worlds Largest Tea party!

Of course, most of my fun was in watching my daughter sing along, wave her favorite pony in the air and even hold up her little pinkie for her sip of pretend tea!

She had been asking me for days leading up to this if the ponies were real!  I didn't want to blow the illusion for her so I creatively answered, " I don't know, we'll have to see at the show"  She told me that if she could see feet or hands then they'd just be puppets.  Of course, the puppets of this production are a little more advance than your average Halloween costume so when she saw them for the first time, her face lit up and she screamed "they're real!  Papa, they're real!".  Too cute.

Now for the record, the little one had be driving me up the proverbial parental wall earlier in the day with temper tantrums, talking back and not sharing.  Shutting down the whole event was threated more than once but half way through the party she leaned over and whispered "I love you" in my ear so all was forgiven... and them some!

Almost at the 10 grand mark!  Thanks for reading and keep the clicks coming!

Well, the powers that be are sending me out into the world of real work!

Yes, I'll be getting my hand dirty trying out a few different jobs this May.

I have some great jobs lined up for our newly renamed series "Hey Rob Try My Job!" but I am looking for one or two more.

We've already done:

A Llama Farm
Washing Dirty Hockey Uniforms
Cleaning Up at the Zoo
Cleaning Up and Breeding Beetles
Doing an Oil Change on a Train
Changing the blade on a Zamboni

And a whole bunch more!

We have some great ones lined up for May but we're open to suggestions so if you have a job you think I should try please email me or post a comment here with a way to contact you.

Thanks!

Recently I had a wonderful dinner with friends and to our delight, our friends went above and beyond the call of duty.

They prepared two different kinds of steak - cuts of meat that were almost 2" thick! -  some beautifully prepared crab legs and double baked potatoes!  Of course there was drawn butter,  mushrooms and onions and some adult beverages.

Decadent?  You bet!  An everyday event for us?  No way!  We're most often eating chicken nuggets along side the kids or maybe something from the freezer section at Aldi or Pick n' Save.  A big splurge for us is to get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or pick up a pizza.   Our grill is only rarely graced with steak and is more likely to be barbecuing some chicken or hamburgers.  That all being said, it is wonderful to indulge every now and again and sometimes it takes good friends to remind you of the joys of good, well prepared, food.

Of course, as with most meals, its as much about the company as the food.  I have had memorable dinners over left over pizza because the group of friends was so wonderful but there is something to be said for getting out the good dishes, spending a few more dollars to get some top of the line ingredients and really treating yourself and your good company.

What's my point?  Am I bragging about my yummy dinner or something?  Well, sort of - it was brag worthy - but really I just thought I'd write this up as a reminder that sometimes you need to treat yourself and take the extra steps to make a meal or a get-together feel a bit more special.  It think Oprah has a saying that goes something like "use the Sunday dishes" and I guess I have to agree.  Even if you (like me) have to pinch every penny you've got, there are times when you need to go the extra mile - even if that just means frozen pizza on  Grandma's fine china!

 

I seriously doubt the Idol contestants have time to read anything let alone my blog but it did seem as if a couple of them followed my advice!

JASON CASTRO:

Last night was the first time I have ever fully enjoyed his performance and he did pretty much what I suggested which was to find a song he could really rock ( I don't mean hard rock ) and stand out from the crowd.  He needed to prove he could actually win and not just place well.  He did that last night.  I'll bet it's the hottest iTunes download from the Idol bunch last night.

KRISTY LEE COOK:

She did it! She finally committed to a good solid country tune and knocked it out of the ball park!  I actually got a bit of a chill when she hit some of the big notes.  That said, she still can't win.  But this will get her further.

DAVID ARCHULETA:

Okay... that was another ballad but I think David found a way to make it fresh.  The piano playing was a good way to show his skills.  He really nailed this one!  I still say he'll have to do something other than a ballad or power-ballad to win.  You have to show you could make an album.  Even Clay Aiken did an upbeat tune or two.

Okay... now the bad news...

BROOKE WHITE:

Once again, I can't even remember what she sang.  Plus she really suffered having to follow David.  She does better behind the keys too but she would have looked silly following David and also playing the piano.

MICHAEL JOHNS:

Aerosmith?  I love 'em too but so not his style.  There are so many other great songs that inspire and could have been great for him.  What about "We are the champions?", "Eye of the Tiger"; "More Than a Feeling"; "Hero"... etc.!?! 

CARLY SMITHSON:

She should be prepared for a bottom three seat.  That was another overdone performance that just didn't hit home.  She'd make a great studio singer or background singer.  She can sing but when she performs there's just nothing there.  And cover up that arm just once - we get it ... you've got tattoos big whoop so do I.

SYESHA MERCADO:

A Fantasia song?  Really?!  There are so many things wrong with that but here's the biggest of the problems: 
1. You don't have her signature sound
2. It's not a very well known song and while it might inspire you, most of your audience isn't that familiar with it
3. With all the artists you could have chosen from, you go with a relatively new artist?
4. It just seems too "inside" too in the the Idol family
She should get ready to sit beside Carly and possibly Brooke in that bottom 3.

Finally...

DAVID COOK:

That was awful.  Self indulgent and poorly performed.  Where was the guitar?  What's the deal with the doodle on the hand?  Idol gives back was still 24 hours away!!  Oh well, you'll likely get away with it this week but another lame duck performance like that and I'll be picking a new choice for winner.


So, in short, last nights big its were David A., Jason Castro and Kristy Lee Cook.

My choice for bottom 3 would be Carly, Brooke and Syesha.   My guess is that time has run out for Syesha but it will be close and could easily be Carly going home.

So we're down to 8 on Idol.

This is when it gets really good because we're finally down to the 8 who could actually win this thing or at least go on to be stars like non-winners Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry or even Clay Aiken!

Here's what I think each of the final 8 need to do to make it to the final two:

BROOKE WHITE:
Brook has been excellent and mediocre all at the same time.  She has one week when she blows us away with a great performance and then dresses like the sun in a elementary school play and does a bad  "Here Comes The Sun".  She cannot afford even one more average performance.  She has to hit it out of the part EVERY time in order to maintain her fan base and keep up with the other leaders.  If not she could go in the next two weeks.

CARLY SMITHSON:
For me Carly has been the most over rated and under performing contestant of all!  She gets praises for songs that sound awful to my ear.  She has to break out this week or next if she's gong to survive.  Quick... what did she sing last week?  I don't know either.  Forgettable.

DAVID ARCHULETA:
Drop the "aw shucks" attitude when you get good comments - it's getting old.  David MUST find something else he can sing other than ballad's.  Yes those are amazing but even a one trick pony with a really good trick is just a one trick pony!

JASON CASTRO:
Honestly, I don't even know how he got this far!  He is about as good as any local bar band or Karaoke host but his looks take him further.  I am hoping to see him leave in the next week but to stay he needs to really rock one!  I mean blow away the rest one week just to prove he can.  So far, he's just a good middling act for the tour.

KRISTY LEE COOK:
Her friendship with Britney isn't much in the way of music industry currency these days so that's not an option.  She needs to embrace her country sound and really get it rockin'!  She's gone country because the judges said it was a good idea but she hasn't bought in yet!  She needs to buy a ticket to the and really ride it!  She's the only country option and there are a LOT of country fans out there!  If Chikeze had stuck to his southern sound he'd still be around!

MICHAEL JOHNS:
Michael is my sleeper pick to win the whole thing.  He was slow to start but he's hitting his stride at just the right time!  That being said he needs to keep picking songs that showcase his big voice.  One slip could do him in!

SYESHA MERCADO:
Here's another sleeper potential.  She needs to find a way to stand out though.  Maybe find a way to explore other sounds?  Some Nelly Furtado maybe?  I dunno but some how she has to stand out and show she could be a winner.  ALSO... please someone tell her to keep the hair curly.  Much better look if you ask me.

And finally,  my pick to win it all...

DAVID COOK:
He sounds great, he's kinda geeky cool and he can really play!  However, he has to stay fresh and current.  He can't just keep remaking songs or he'll end up as our beat boxer did last year - #2!  I also think he should just let loose and play his guitar!  Let's hear a solo dude!

Your thoughts?

Alright I'm going to put it in print!

I said it this morning and I'll now put it in print!

If the Brewers make it to the World Series I will attempt to grow a Bernie Brewer Mustache!



I'm not saying it'll look as good as Bernie's or that I'll have enough time to get it in full handlebar style but if the Brew Crew can make it to the series the razor will skip the upper lip until the Crew either bring home the gold or go down swinging.

To put this in perspective, I have never worn facial hair of any kind on a long term basis. I was in a play in Toronto once where I grew a goatee for the part but I shaved that after the 1 week run and I couldn't wait to do it! So this could get... um... hairy!?!

GO CREW!!!

If you're a regular reader of my blog you already know I am an Admirals fans and try to get to as many games as a father of three can in a given season.  This year they are doing very well - even after their top goalie got called up to the NHL!

I took the whole family to the big game on Sunday against Houston - what a game!  Shoot out and everything!  Plus a big win!

So, I thought I'd share a picture my wife took of Nadia (our newest addition) at her first hockey game.