Friday night blogging?

Apparently so.

It's been a busy week. Most importantly, I had a phone job interview this afternoon with a local firm that is not related to the USAF. Hopefully I gave the interviewer the answers he was looking for and I'll make the cut and will get called in next week for a face to face interview. It would be a real shame to tell the man I will have to delay starting work for a week due to a fishing trip but I'll hopefully get the chance to do just that.

I have been job hunting all week and staying close to the house because it's been raining, snowing, sleeting and generally looking like November instead of almost May! I did get the grass mowed and some weed killer sprayed on and some bushes trimmed. I've also given up on the church's leafblower but made the weedeater work so I'm batting 50% on the small engine repairs.

The weather has been so lousy that there hasn't been any fishing this week and that is a real bummer because fishing buddy Kenny had a week long kitchen pass. But we couldn't get out so now there is just 1 week left before leaving for Flaming Gorge and only one day next week on the forecast where it looks like I'll be able to take Fish Slayer out and make certain everything is working. I'm already on the MkII version of my sideplaner tower and I really want to see if it works. I've also added 6 rodholders to the front of the boat today to try to keep the rods under control. When Kenny gets busy fishing he can have fishing poles sticking out all over the boat while he rigs and changes rigs so now there are some places to keep them stored.

My kitten Itty Bit, asleep on my lap right now, came in one night this week after being out in the dark and the next day I discovered a 1 1/2 inch patch of skin showing through where fur should be, on his right shoulder. There's a tiny scratch that doesn't seem to be bothering him but he has an arrow shaped patch where there should be fur and there's just pink skin showing through. Itty Bit has also discovered the front yard and that he can access it by climbing the fence so he has been busy exploring everywhere. There's no way to keep him in the yard but I'm trying to reign in his wandering. He shouldn't go too far since he won't trying to find any girlfriends as he grows up.

Tomorrow's a church yard cleanup day and it looks like that will be done in the cold temps and rain as well as everything else this week. I'm in charge so I'll be there early and late I suppose. I just wish the dang temperatures would get 20 degrees warmer- as they normally are so we didn't have to battle wind chill while picking weeds!

Another single shot rifle?

I already happily own 2 H&R Handi-Rifles, a Sportster model in 17HMR andd a fancy Ultra Varmit Fluted model in .223. They are both terrifically fun to shoot and they are prized members of my locker. The other day I wandered into my favorite pawn shop and they had another one on the rack, this one had wood furniture, a cheap scope and a really big hole in the muzzle. It was chambered in 38-55!

Now what possible reason would there be for me to own a single shot rifle chambered in a caliber with roots that date back to the 1870s, that was intended to be filled with black powder and that shoots 255 grain pumpkins downrange? I really can't think of a good reason but that didn't keep me from seriously considering adding to the others in the locker. I haven't yet- but I'm thinking about it...

So I got the lawn mowed and fertilized just in time-

Just in time for the snow to fall and soak it in nicely! Yeah, it's just 36 degrees outside and it is snowing on the tulips and daffodils. Itty Bit the cat doesn't know what to think about the sky falling on his head after he ventured out this morning.

Looks like a good day to stay inside, job hunt and finish reading Angela's Ashes this afternoon.

Skunked, we were-

That's right, Kenny and I got skunked this afternoon at Willard Bay. Bummer. It was after lunch before we ever got out there and by the time Fish Slayer hit the water, the wind was blowing strong and there were white caps on the waves. We tried leaving the marina but we didn't go a couple hundred yards before deciding to get back inside the marina bay and the protection it provided.

We still had to fight the wind and it made the fishing (and boating) very tricky. I tried out my sideplaner and tower but that was a bust. The planer wouldn't pull straight, the tower rotates in its base and the pulleys on the top of the tower kept fouling the line of the whheels and getting stuck in the pulley frames. So I've got some work to do to get that entire system working.

And it looks like I'm going to have some time to sort it all out because there is a cold front coming in tonight that is bring rain and high winds for the next several days... Bummer.

The Murray Mark V is alive!

That would be my lawnmower that has been hibernating peacefully in the storage closet since last October. I broke it out today and it fired up with just 4 tugs on the pull handle and that meant there was nothing for me to do but to run it over the grass that has been sprouting since the snow melted.

So summer is officially here no matter what the calendar or the planet alignment says.

Fish Slayer is getting wet tomorrow! Kenny and I are going fishing for this season's inaugural fishing trip. Today I finished the sideplaner tower and added the mount for it to the bow of the boat. It looks pretty slick and I'm anxious to give it a try tomorrow. Maybe I'll even remember to take some pictures!

On another note, the BSU had a liver biopsy done today so she's been napping and taking it even easier than usual. No results- that will take a couple weeks but something is up with that big, blood filled organ of hers and nothing else we had tried has proven conclusive.

Not much blogging going on-

Busy here at Wasted Electrons World Headquarters. Spring is trying to break out and I'm spending more time outdoors and away from the laptop. No job yet in spite of diligent efforts. Yesterday I dethatched most of the front yard with my thatch rake. That manual labor lasted until my arms gave out. I'll try to get that finished today and then I can put down some fertilizer that the neighbor gave me. I'm also trying to get down to the church to see if I can get the grass mowed there.

I've begun sanding and priming Fish Slayer's trailer and I need to get some new tires on it as well since I just don't trust the weather cracked, worn rubber that is holding it up right now. They may be ok for a trip or two to Willard Bay since it is close but before I leave the immediate area, the trailer needs new tires.

I've fixed a hand me down lawnmower and the church's snowblower this week and need to transport both of them down to the church. The lawnmower is a donation to the lawnmower shed and the snowblower is going up for sale when we have our car boot sale in May.

There's been some drama with the eldest son and he got himself banged up a bit but that's not a story for online telling. It is causing concern and stress here at the house though.

I think I'll go buy some Rustoleum and put some paint on my boat trailer...

When the current cold front passes through-

I'm taking Fish Slayer to the lake! That's right, Fish Slayer is ready for fishing! I've completed all the mods that I set out to do with the exception of installing my sideplaner tower and it's not quite ready yet. But otherwise, it looks good. The cockpit has all new vinyl. There's a new steering wheel and glovebox. The black vinyl on the consoles has been replaced and the storage spaces up front have been raised 3". The old padded benches are still waiting for new plywood and vinyl covering, which requires some more funds so that's another week's project.

But the downriggers and the happy troller plate are installed, the batteries are back in their places and just as soon as this weather front leaves and the temperature hits 60 degrees, we're going to the lake for some fishing!


Maybe this being unemployed thing will work out after all...

Go to work where?

Somebody asked me this week if I had considered looking for work anywhere in southwest Asia, you know, anyplace surrounding the Persian Gulf. There is lots of work to be done there and with huge paychecks offered to entice qualified people to work accomplishing the things that the people who grew up there won't do or won't get trained to do.

The very first thought to cross my cranium when I encountered this question? I'm not going without my firearms for self protection! And since we can all be certain that possibility is out of the question, so is the likelihood of me going over there to work. Let me take along my Taurus 1911, my SKS and 2 Kel-Tecs, (the P3AT and the Sub 9 carbine) and we could talk about employment.

It snowed how much?

About 6" in my diveway this morning! By the time I came home from a meeting last night it was a real blizzard outside and the driveway was piled high when I got up this morning. Most of it has melted off this afternoon but it's still cold.

On a better note, the brown truck of happiness delivered my downrigger mounts this evening so as soon as it warms up, I'll be getting the Scotties installed. I'm having a pair of downrigger weights made and I will be picking them up Thursday. So when the weather finally gets right, Fish Slayer will be right!

I guess I'm feeling nostalgic tonight-

but this bit of YouTube video is really striking a chord with me. Go watch The Highwaymen- Waylon, Willie, Johnny and Kris sing you some classic American songs. There's a slew of songs in this playlist that will start one right after the other so get a drink and comfortable and let these legends entertain you for a bit.

Willie Nelson like you've never seen him before...

I don't remember what swirl through the intertubes landed me on Youtube tonight but somehow I did and when I did, I discovered a video that just blew my mind- Willie Nelson in a suit! This is NOT the Willie most of us know and love, (or tolerate or hate) and I'm guessing this video was made before Willie found his muse in the ganja plant. Anyway, it's a hoot so give it a look.

And to clear the scary scene from your cranium, here's a Willie video that will get your mind right- Willie and Merle Haggard singing Pancho & Lefty. If watching this video doesn't put a smile on your face, there's no hope for you.
This one is a classic too: