On This Date in 1999 (January 9)

And indeed it was.

JoAnna has been hired by Shirley Abrahamson to plan her re-election campaign. What was going to be a volunteer effort became a 3-week consulting job. Her meeting with Jim Doyle went very well. Because of civil service requirements, she can’t be officially hired until late February, so it looks like she will have some additional time off after all.

I spent an hour this morning helping Eddie with his Pinewood Derby race car. Eddie prepared the design, and I transferred the outline onto a block of wood (7” long and 2¼” wide), then used a small hacksaw to complete the first step of “manufacture”. Then Eddie helped me smooth away the rough edges with some sandpaper. That’s all we accomplished today. Tomorrow Eddie can start to paint his car.

The Pinewood Derby is a very popular Cub Scout event. The scouts race their cars, 3 at a time, on a 20-foot track that is set up like a slide. Eddie’s car didn’t do too well last year since it was too light. During the construction, it’s allowable to add weight to the vehicle, as long as it doesn’t exceed 5 ounces.