The BSU can see tonight, without her eyeglasses!

That's right, today she had her PRK laser corrective eye surgery. She's wearing plastic eye covers and putting in drops to quell the itching but she's done. And pretty happy so far. Because of the type of surgery, her eyes are going to be very scratchy and hurting for a few days but she has some pain meds to help with the worst of it.

And I watched the entire process on the TV in the waiting area. Its pretty weird but she was done in under 10 minutes and walked out able to see the number of fingers I was holding up.

Maybe- maybe I'll do it someday. Right now, call me undecided.

My roof trusses arrive tomorrow!

And I still have so much to accomplish before I am ready for them! Hooray!

Could there be a better candidate?

I don't think so!

I do call dibs on the SecDef position on his cabinet!

Brother, can you spare a dime?

Rattle, rattle, rattle- that would be ths sound of me waving my dingy, bent, tin cup at you from a street corner, as I figure out where my next meal is coming from...

That's right, as you might have guessed from Thursday night's post, I'm unemployed.

Fired.

Made redundant.

Laid off.

Not welcome in my building or cubicle...

Its a long story but I finally tipped off th high-wire act that is being a contractor working for the government. COntractors work at the whim of their .gov manangement and it doesn't take much, (or anything) to get them to release you. And that's what happened to me. The management decided they just didn't like my work style and even though I got the results they wanted, I didn't act the way they thought I should. And so Thursday afternoon, my company set me loose.

The good news is I did get "laid off" so I received a better than expected severance package and should I be unemployed still at the end of that package, I can apply for unemployment benefits.

In the mean time, I have have a new job starting tomorrow, that is, hunting for a new job. I'll be updating my resume and contacting a number of folks I already know and stirring the Monster.com pot to see what I can dig out of their listings as well as several others.

I hate it that I won't see the Taxi Light Relocation program that I have worked on get finished but I guess somebody will pick it up behind me and finish it off.

This just might make you laugh-

it certainly comes with a drink/monitor interfernce warning....

Check this out.

Too drunk to give you details-

but today has Not been a good day. Details, (or a rough estimation of the real story), later. Tomorrow maybe, when I've got more time...

Lots more time...

No shop roof work tonight-

no lawn mowing or scooter re-assembling in the shop tonight either. I didn't even go out to the shop for a smoke and to listen to the Raptor's game. I'm just too tired tonight.

I got home from work and sat down, only to have to go out immediately to rescue the BSU, clear down in Layton at her eye Doc's office. She had taken herself to an appointment, unaware that she would be having her eyes dilated, so she was in no condition to drive home. And I went and rescued her like any caring hubby would.

I left the scoot there, we both went to dinner at Jason's Deli and then I took her home. Kenny picked me up and delivered me back down to the scooter so I could get it home. That's when I discovered that the license plate had fallen off Sleek Black Beauty!

Hooverdamm! The aluminum bracket that holds the LED brakelight and the license plate frame broke at the top of the license plate holder. Its gone.

I guess tomorrow I get to visit my friendly DMV office...

Good news & bad news from the boy

So, son Noah’s been back in Colorado for a week and a half and yesterday evening he called to say he had found a job. That’s the good news. He’s decided that he wants to stay close to the Rocky Mountains and so had been pursuing work for one of the several ski resorts, hopefully in the maintenance barns servicing and repairing all the trucks, cats and snowmobiles that a ski resort requires. Yesterday he went in to fill out an application at one of the resorts and while searching for a stapler to keep his application package together, ran into the General Manager who promptly offered him a summer job cutting brush on the slopes and promised to consider his application for more complex employment.

 

The bad news is, later in the afternoon he had his first spill on his motorcycle and banged up his knee... He had apparently ridden to Fremont Springs- the nearest town with any shopping that doesn’t require a designer label, taken his eyes off the van in front of him for a second and looked up to discover the van coming to an immediate stop. He didn’t get the bike stopped fast enough and ended up on his side partially under the van! There’s no serious damage done, the van’s unharmed and no tickets were issued but he did ding up his shiny motorcycle a bit and he twisted his knee pretty painfully. You know, the knee that he needs for hiking up and down ski slopes beginning today, cutting brush…

 

I advised that he get himself a knee brace at the nearest pharmacy and that he get off of it as soon as he could get back to where he is staying. He was still dang determined to show up for work this morning, just as he had promised and I hope his injuries won’t prevent that. He’ll be sore for a bit but I suspect he will be feeling better soon and he’ll be a better motorcycle rider as a result of all this. His motorcycle will be easily repaired once he starts making some money with his new job.

 

Needless to say- his mom was not happy to hear about his motorcycle accident!

USAF-

So easy a caveman could do it.

Well, I beg to differ but I have to tell you that this really made me laugh! Thanks Cowboy Blob!

"I'm hot because I have a beaver."

Hey, I didn't say it!

I think there's a mom that's overestimating the number of years before she should be expecting her daughter to say something like this...

Well, the shingles are all off!

I still have a few to throw into the trash cans but they are all loose and waiting to be tossed off the shed roof. I've also cut away the overhanging tree branches that would have been in the way of the new roof.

I missed the sales guy for the rafters on Friday so I still need to hook up with him 1 more time before ordering the trusses. Then it will be a week or 10 days before they arrive and I'll use that time to get the lights and hoist and lumber rack off the roof on the inside.

Skylights are expensive! I want to put two of them into the new roof for some additional light and so this afternoon the BSU and I checked them out at The Home Depot. Two of them looks like it will drive my total costs up by over $400. Grr! I've also got to figure out what type of insulation I'll be installing and figuring in that cost.

And shingles! Shingles are expensive now too! The good ones are $24 per bundle and the spousal unit is encouraging me to go ahead and buy the good ones, so now I have to figure out how many bundles I will need.

It looks like this project might take a little longer than I intended as I pay for ll these improvements over a couple paydays. But I'm going to have a much nicer shop when its all done!

So what's happening with me?

Well, it's summertime here and I’m spending as many hours outside as I possibly can. Which means when I am sitting down that I’m too tired to have coherent thoughts, never mind coherent things to write. And I haven’t picked up my new Apple iPhone yet so there’s no real blogging from the job either.

 

The boy has come and visited and returned to Colorado to seek further fame & fortune. He interviewed for a job in Craig, Colorado yesterday in a small dealership but hasn’t accepted the offer just yet as Craig is apparently a pretty small outpost town that is presently bursting at the seams with oil & gas roughnecks occupying every available living space. But he seemed to have a pretty good visit to Utah and was able to see most of his friends, just like he intended.

 

Raptors baseball has entered its final weeks of the season and the BSU & I made it to two games in the past week. The Raptors are currently leading their division for the 2^nd half of the season, even winning 8 games in a row. Sadly that winning streak ended Monday night and last night’s game turned into a blowout for the Helena Brewers. They beat the Raptors 9-4 last night. I’m afraid that our team might have burned up all their energy winning those 8 in a row and left them a bit empty afterwards. We’ll see as the season winds down.

 

I’ve found a fishing spot at Willard Bay Reservoir that I like, just next to the south boat launch. It's easy to get to, has incoming water and a moderately deep channel and a decent place to sit. I’ve been there twice and am batting .500 for catching fish [boy, that’s a mixed metaphor] so I’ll keep going out there as time allows. I tried to take the BSU there last night but she elected to see the Raptors play over trying to coax fish onto a hook. Tonight I’m headed out to the same reservoir but this time with a buddy in his boat so we can try a bit of trolling for Wipers.

 

The re-roof job on my workshop is progressing nicely. I have an estimate for the new trusses for my raised roof and I hope to be ordering them in the next day or two. I’ve removed all the old felt that I put on top of the shingles a couple years back and about ¼ of the shingles. I’ll finish that task while waiting on the trusses to arrive and try to save as much of the plywood as I can for reuse on the new roof. I’m pretty certain that I’ll be installing a couple new skylights to let in some sun as part of the improvements and insulation to the inside of the roof to help keep the temperatures temperate. I’ll be adding rain gutters to the back side of the roof to move the water away and keep it from intruding over the floor when the rains come. I’m pretty excited about the entire project and am looking forward to a roomier, warmer-in-the-winter shop. Did I mention that I intend to install a permanent propane fired heater in my new headroom? That’s the plan!

 

So I’m plenty busy. It's all good though and my yard is even looking better than it has most of the year. I guess if I spend enough time moving the sprinklers around and operating them that the grass will stay green. Imagine that!

Build your own Stonehenge

Wally Wallington is building one in his backyard and he shows how to do it. This is some pretty amazing thinking and problem solving at a big level.

I'm pretty certain my Grandpa Harry would have liked this guy.

Thanks to Kenny who sent me the link via email.

A Utah icon succumbs to gravity

Surprisingly, I didn't hear about this at all from the local news here behind the Zion Curtain but from my dad this morning- Iconic stone arch collapses in southern Utah park.

I've been to Arches National Park and it is an amazing place to visit. The scenery is breath-taking and almost other worldly. So its a little bit sad to hear that one of the landmarks that makes Utah unique has succumbed to the natural forces that created it in the first place.

This is going to cost me many lost hours!

Tonight I installed Google SketchUp 3D drawing software on my computer. It looks like it might be great fun and its much more challenging than the tutorial might lead you to believe.

I decided to try it out so I can try to build some models of my workshop in preparation for the new roof. The sales guy from Stock Builders Supply came by this afternoon to do the measuring and he will be sending quotes on 2 different roof shapes. It's either going to be the dual truss half scissors design or the clear story design that will allow me to install some additional windows or ventilation.

So- I'm pretty excited. I hope that I'll be paying a deposit for some trusses in just a couple days.

The boy should be home shortly.

Noah son is taking a week's vacation from the job in Aspen and is headed home on his motorcycle. I spoke to him about 2 this afternoon and he was on his way. So he should be pulling into the carport pretty shortly.

I think he's got plans to see a bunch a his friends- he wants to show off that motorcycle after all, but I suppose he will stick close enough to home for some home cooked meals.

Tomorrow's dinner is fresh fish, catfish and wiper, fried up and served with hush puppies. I caught 2 channel cats and 1 wiper today and we had 1 more from my last fishing trip so there should be enough to go around.

Anybody else having problems with Internet Explorer tonight?

My humble blog is causing IE to abort operations tonight for a reason unknown to me. Mozilla is working but I need to know if you are having problems reading this through IE. email me at nr234mccordATcom5657castDOTnet. [Take out the numbers, obviously, and correct the usual punction.]

UPDATE: it was Sitemeter that was causing the problem and apparently its fixed now.

To the crotch rocket rider on Wardleigh Rd today at lunch time-

Dude, tucking behind the windscreen with your chin on the gas tank while riding on a road with a 40 mph speed limit makes you look like a dork!

And, BTW, if you are really looking for maximum aerodynamics on your race bike, you should probably dump that huge pack strapped to your back that's sticking up into the wind stream.

I'm pretty certain all that leaning forward against the gas tank has cut off the blood flow to your brains. Dumbass!

Nothing to do now but wait-

Delivery time is somewhere between 10 and 20 days- probably closer to the 20 day point before I get my new iPhone! Yeah!

Yes, I ordered my new iPhone 3G yesterday.

I'm too excited to sleep!

Back from vacation and back on the job-

What’s wrong with that picture anyway? We did arrive safely back home Monday night and had the camper disconnected and the truck unloaded by 9:30. Round trip mileage was 1749 miles and we only spent $614.98 on fuel. Yeah, just $600+ dollars, pumped into the fuel tank and burned out the tailpipe… And only 145 gallons of gas- what a deal!

 

We had a very nice vacation. After leaving last Wednesday and staying in Pendleton, Oregon for the night, we headed into the Columbia River Gorge for the scenic trip all the way out to the Pacific Coast at the mouth of the Columbia. Our destination was Fort Stevens State Park, http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_179.php, just a few miles south of Astoria.

 

Camp set up was well under way with the rest of the family by the time we arrived and our set up went smoothly too, after I discovered the poorly crimped wire terminal that prevented my new, electric top lift from working when I tried it in front of an audience. But I fixed that up quick and soon we were set up and relaxing with the rest of the family.

 

Most of our time was spent just visiting, drinking beer and eating good food every time the womenfolk thought it was time to fire up the cook stoves again, which seemed to start just about as soon as the dish washing from the previous meal was completed. The weather was much nicer than last year, cool and mostly dry, just raining on us a little the first morning. Last year we got drowned with rain and spent most of our time sitting under blue tarps, this year we just a little damp for a little while.

 

The dog and I did some walking through the forests on Fort Steven’s multitude of paved paths http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/stevens_trail_guide.pdf and I bought a fishing license for some fishing. The first afternoon I was shutout at Coffenbury Lake. The BSU and I did venture back into Astoria to visit the Columbia River Maritime Museum, http://crmm.org/#, which is a “must see” stop if you ever make it to that part of the country and we walked through a US Coast Guard lighthouse boat that sits, tied up next to the museum.

 

The second trip to Coffenbury Lake turned out much more productive and one of the brother-in-laws and I caught 8 rainbow trout over the course of an afternoon. I also caught 6 or 7 smallmouth bass but they were all babies, 3 or 4” long that went after my night crawlers with a tiny little vengeance. It turned out to be great fun and the trout went into a fry pan as part of that night’s dinner.

 

We pulled out of camp Sunday afternoon, headed into town and spent the night in the guest bedroom of one of the sister’s recently finished dream home. The brother-in-law retired from his job, took the classes and got his contractor’s license and oversaw the entire construction of their beautiful new home. It's a remarkable place with exposed beams and a full width porch that looks out over the Columbia River and smart features that shows the forethought that went into the planning before the first shovel was stuck into the dirt.

 

The trip home was relaxing and pleasant and we spent the night in the neat town of Baker, Oregon. We also stopped at the Cabelas in Boise so I could see the museum dedicated to Elmer Keith. Overall it is pretty interesting if underwhelming display and probably displays Keith in the simple and plain spoken manner that he would have approved of. I got out of there with just 2 new fishing lures and only 10 bucks spent and then we fired up the truck once again and came on home.

 

So, I’m back to work and my program hasn’t spiraled out of control during my absence. The technical expert’s last day on the program is today and that’s going to be a problem but he is leaving behind really good notes for the next guy so we should survive. Now I just need to get the yard mowed tonight so the neighbors don’t start complaining!

Here's your sign...

Posted by the local Albertsons grocery, just in case you have never purchased beer before, I suppose. As always, click the small pic to see it full sized.

Blogging from the Super 8 in Pendelton, Oregon tonight-

After a pleasant day's drive through the top of Utah, the south of Idaho and the eastern end of Oregon, we stopped in Pendelton tonight. Last year we stayed across the street at the Holiday Inn Express and we would have stayed there again but half their parking lot was blocked off and there was no place to park the truck and camper combination.

So, we're staying at the Super 8. The room's large and clean, the internet connection is easy and fast and the pool and hot tub were the right temps and not crowded.

Tomorrow its back into the truck again and on the road to Astoria and Ft Stevens State Park.

Remarkably, for those of you following along at home, I pushed through the last action I needed to coordinate to obligate all those government funds- your tax dollars, before the deadline of 1 August. There were a number of skeptics that were really certain I would never get this task accomplished. But I did, before going on vacation, and now I can relax for a little bit. There are still a huge number of loose ends to knit together when I return but the big stuff, the stuff that might have gotten me fired- has been completed. I hope those doubting Thomases have learned a little lesson about my abilities, skills and determination...

Man arrested in movie theater after leaving child in car

David Farnam is a dumbass that left his two year old son in the car while he went to the midnight showing of The Dark Knight.

While 23-year-old David Farnham was enjoying the 11:30 p.m. showing of "The Dark Night" inside an air-conditioned theater at Century 16 Saturday night, his 2-year-old son, Justin, was all alone in a hot car, surrounded by signs that warn patrons to park at their own risk.

I hope he goes to jail for a damm long time!

What else did I do this weekend?

Besides replacing all the brakes under the camper you mean?

Well, as I already mentioned, I had breakfast with Ben and then we visited a car show in a local park. But he wasn't feeling to well so I took him back to the place wher he lives earlier than planned.

I got a haircut.

I took the BSU to see Batman: The Dark Knight. I have to tell you that this is one awesome movie. Yes, it's dark and dramatic and almost 2.5 hours long. It's also a gripping, terrific tale. The BSU even gave it a "thumbs up" even though it's not really her favorite type of movie. She liked it! I liked it a lot. It's mesmermizing and complex and filled with twists and weirdness that keeps you paying attention to the story. There's some really neat special effects and tricks that will seem totally possible in Gotham City with the Joker on the loose. It is an awesome movie.

I've detailed the truck's interior today in preparation for our trip. It got vaccumed, shampooed and the glass cleaned. I really need to do that more often...

No morning coffee with Carol this morning, sadly, as her hubby is away and she had to stay home with the children. And there won't be coffee next Sunday either since I'll be in Oregon.

One of the boys called me Friday to say he had quit his job and was packing up and moving out from his job and housing! Yikes! Not too surprising, really, as he has had a difficult time dealing with his erratic and difficult boss. He didn't have much of a plan for the immediate future except to start pushing his resume around the area and try to find something new. [Update] The boy called tonight to say he and the boss had worked out a 2 week plan- not to quit and not to fire, while they work out their differences. And the boy needs to find another place to live because living in the same garage where he turns wrenches all day is not working out.

The other boy called- after several weeks of silence, to say that he was now paying- involuntarily- some past due child support and that the garnishments were putting a dent in his finances. He's apparently putting in some 15 hour days at the job to try to get on top of all of his obligations. I guess he'll figure it out sooner or later.

So it's been a pretty busy weekend, mostly in preparation for our upcoming vacation at the Oregon coast. I'm ready, the truck and the camper are ready and the BSu has been emailing or talking to the sisters on the phone every day in preparation.

Two critical and crucial days of work this week and then I'm off for a week! Yeah!

Law Dog makes me laugh!

If you aren't a regular reader of LawDog, you should be. He is a writer stuck in a sherriff's uniform and his stories are the very best. Read this one about an abandoned kitty's first vet visit and I dare yu not to read it out loud to whoever is closest to you.

And BTW, don't be trying to drink any coffee or soda or wine- Carol, I'm talking to you, while reading this because you will be wiping any liquids nearby off your monitor.

Sometimes it pays to trust your instincts...

I've had it in my mind a couple weeks that I really should regrease the wheel bearing on the camper before the trip coming up this week. I packed them 4 years ago- maybe 5 years ago and it just seemes like maybe it was time to do it over again. It is a long, hot drive to the Oregon coast from here and those little wheels spin mighty fast, so maybe- maybe I ought to have a look at them.

I am so glad I listened to my instincts! After having breakfast and touring a car show with my buddy Ben on Saturday morning, I decided I better dig into checking those wheel bearings.

When I pulled the first brake drum off the spindle, 2 metal chunks fell out on the ground... That didn't seem to good! Then when I had the drum off I discovered another loose pice of metal and a broken wire on the electromagnet puck. Hmm, this is not looking too shiny. I pulled the drum next to the first one and surprise- another worn out magnet and worn out parts.

Time for a trip to the trailer store- where they did NOT have the parts I needed! Luckily the counter guy directed me to an auto parts store around the corner that I had never visited before and danged if they didn't have the parts on the shelf! Actually what they had was 4 of the entire brake assemblies, with all new parts- springs, shoes, adjusters and magnets already attached to brand new backing plates. The assemblies were less money than buying bits and pieces and tearing everything apart, so I bought them.

Lucky for me I bought all 4 because all of the brake assemblies were worn and broken and needed replacing. And that's what I did yesterday and today. And I greaased the wheel bearings and installed new seals.

Just like I intended to do in the first place...

You know, for a straight guy-

I have entirely too many shoes!

I have 6 pair of shoes, a brown pair and a black pair for work, hikers for home and casual wear, sandals, boat shoe slip-ons and a pair of desert boots.

That's just not right!

I did NOT run out and stand in line for a new iPhone

But I will be visiting my local AT&T dealer sometime this week to upgrade to an Apple iPhone 3G. That's right, I'm getting a new, shiny, multi-trick, touch-screen, internet and GPS equipped cell phone.

I've played with these things in the store. They are really cool. There are hundreds of 3rd-party applications being developed that can be added to the phone through iTunes. I'll upload my music, ditch my iPod and have a slick new phone- just as soon as AT&T can get it delivered!

Somebody doesn't understand the concept

or the English language or basic 6th grade science concepts- Dallas County officials spar over 'black hole' comment.

I know all my readers have already read about these two dumbasses, Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black and Judge Thomas Jones, who is also black, taking offense to Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, because he said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.

If those two elected officials have such a short-sighted and uneducated understanding of the words "black hole", they aren't worthy of any public office. Their constituents need to grow some collective testicular courage and tell both of these fools to STFU.

Another busy week means no time for blogging

It's not supposed to be that way but that's the way it's been this week. So, apologies to the couple of you that still keep coming around for fresh content- sorry.

The job has really been kicking my butt lately. I've been under a heavy level of management "assistance" to get all my remaining program funds obligated in nearly immediate order or risk loosing my funds to higher priority programs. And the funds actually expire if not obligated by the end of the fiscal year but they will get taken away if I don't have them obligated towards an expenditure before 1 August.

If you remember a couple years back, I gleefully said that I had received 4 million of your tax dollars to spend on improving the lighting of the F-16. According to my records and the accounting database, after I finalize one last contract later this month, I will have $37 left unspent... That's right, 37 bucks left. How weird is that?

That's the good news- I'm out of money but haven't overspent. The bad news is my technical expert, Steve, had accepted a government position instead of the contractor spot he is in now! Steve is the real expert on the installation of this modification and if he leaves for his new job before we get the first airplane upgraded, my headaches will be just beginning! I don't blame him for switching- business is business after all and he's taking the same path I'm trying to follow but the timing for his switching is really putting my program in a bind!

On top of everything else, it's summertime so I'm spending most of my time in the evenings outside so by the time I sit down I'm usually too bushed to blog. I've finished the work on the camper, installing a junction block and a fuse block to feed the winch and installed a new battery box.

Today I gave the truck its annual pressure wash under the hood and cleaned out out the bed. Friday I took it in for a fresh oil change and transmission flush and filter change. I also got all my guns cleaned up and derusted and wiped down with oil and put back into the locker. Brother Tim's going to take on the task of refinishing the metal on the 2 guns that have been damaged and so I'll try to get them shipped off to him shortly.

Saturday I went fishing with Kenny and Jim but our efforts at Wiper fishing at Williard Bay weren't nearly as successful as our last outing. We got skunked except for 1 catfish that Kenny caught. I guess that's why its called "fishing" and not "catching".

So, I've been busy and distracted and cranky and none of that leads to great blogging. I am getting close to having the most critical parts of my program accomplished and I'm hoping to be a little less stressed and more inclined to blog. And I have some vacation and the annual sojurn to the Oregon coast coming up later this month!

What else have I been up to?

Let's see-

There is no more manual crank to raise the top on the front of my camper! This week I replaced the manual, hand-cranked winch, which was my least favorite part of setting up the camper, with an electric winch! That's right, no more cranking and sweating and cursing, just open the small ammo box on the tongue of the trailer, remove the wired control handle and push the up button!

The top of the camper goes up! With no sweating! When its time to close up and go home, the remote control has a down button too.

It's a really tidy installation with the winch completely hidden from view under the plate that holds the propane bottles. The only thing that shows is the ammo box that I installed to keep the control handle secure. I need to take some pictures of the entire thing because I'm pretty pleased with the modification.


Yesterday I had a good day fishing with my buddy Loc. It was our first trip fishing together and we seemed to be a pretty good fit. We started at Willard Bay- where I actually did catch one bluegill but the water level there is so low that the only way to reach the fish would have been to go wading and I didin't really feel like that so early in the morning. So we went to Mantua lake and followed a road and some directions a guy at work had given us. We found a creek that empties into the lake with a gravel road over the culvert that opens up into a long finger into the lake. We started tossing some nightcrawler chunks, floating under bobbers into the current and pretty quickly we were catching more bluegill!

It wasn't dead easy because the hungry little critters are pretty good at eating the worm off a hook without actually getting onto the hook but we did catch about a dozen in a couple hours time and when Loc figured he had enough fish for dinner we gave up our spot to another couple families that showed up. It was a great time and fun fishing and I need to take the BSU out there to let her try her hand at the voracious little bluegill.


Today we bought some new furniture for the upstairs living room. Its this Santa Rosa seating set which was on sale at HD for $300 off the price in the link. ON top of that, they were having an additional 10% price reduction for military members- which they were kind enough to extend to this old retired military guy!

So we got a pretty good deal and the furniture looks nice in our front room. We rented the Home Depot truck to bring everything home- it came in 3 really big boxes, and unboxed everything in the front yard. Cutting and folding up the cardboard boxes took longer than getting everything moved inside! We still need to move some tables around and get everything settled but I think its going to be a nice new addition to our just remodeled upstairs area.

So- hot water on demand, like most of us want in our homes, some new furniture to sit on, a few good hours hanging out with a friend and my camper has a labor-saving improvement too.

Just a typical weekend here at Wasted Electrons World Headquarters!

The hot water tank is working again-

for those of you left wondering if I was boiling water on the stove for sponge baths- its fixed.

It did take me 2 days to discover that the DHL driver has left it wedged between the front storm door and the solid door, so I didn't get the new parts installed until the 4th of July. And it's working just fine now so now more laying on the floor in the laundry room to light it every night before getting a shower.

Hurray!

I don't know why this chokes me up

but it does. I tried to read this post about 1215 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Marines taking the oath of enlistment for 5500 combined years of additional service- while they serve in Iraq, to the BSU tonight. I couldn't do it without choking up- repeatedly.

I remember how it felt to reenlist and what it meant to me as a commitment. It was a big deal. And when I think about 1200+ fellow servicemenbers doing the same thing, on the 4th of July- our independence day, thousands of miles from their homes and families, well, it puts a tight spot in my throat.

I'm not apologizing, I'm just saying.

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Whirlpool is sending me a new gas valve-

Its due to arrive tomorrow. They seem to think the problem is in the thermostat. So tonight, I'm relighting the heater then grabbing a shower quick.

And tomorrow night I'll be laying on the basement floor again...

Good grief!

What a difference a day makes-

We have a cherry tree in our front yard and one of the true pleasures of summer is being able to just walk into the yard and pick and munch some cherries. This has been part of our summertime ritual for a few years now and we really enjoy this little bit of summer sweetness.

But not this year...

I got up Thursday morning to discover a magpie party going on in our front yard. Overnight, the magpies discovered my cherry tree, invited all their friends and picked every cherry off the tree! Every cherry! I counted at least 15 magpies vacating my yard and tree when I went out to put up my flag.

I showed the tree to my neighbor and he guessed that my tree fell victim to a late freeze and he couldn't believe it when I told him the real circumstance.

Next year I'm trimming the tree back to make it shorter then I'll be netting it after it flowers so I can try to keep the birds off of it. Either that or I'm going to kill a couple magpies and hang them from the tree so the others can see what their fate will be if they try to steal my cherries again!

And BTW, I'm sitting here right now, eating cherries from a bag that came from Wal-Mart. Two pounds of cherries cost me almost 10 bucks and they aren't near as tasty as if I picked them myself from my own tree.

Damm magpies!

On a more positive note-

and now that the BSU is off the cordless phone, I can repeat writing this post...

I did get the camper pulled out from its winter parking spot and out to the front of the carport this weekend, cleaned inside and out, the water tanks filled and leak checked and ready to go. I've installed the battery and charged it up and bought two full tanks of propane- 30 bucks worth!

I'm going to install an elecric winch like this one on the tongue of the camper this year to replace the manual winch that I really hate cranking up and down to start and end each camping trip.

I'm probably going to spend a night re-greasing the wheel bearings before leaving for our Oregon trip, just to make sure everything in there is wonderful. Those little tires and wheels spin long and fast on that trip so I don't need one of them burning up if a little preventave maintenance can prevent it.

What kind of a guy buys a house with a busted water heater?

This guy! That's right, we signed all the papers to refinance the house earlier this week, Thursday it was, and at the time I signed, the hot water heater wasn't working. I wasn't too worried though because the parts to fix it were already at the house, having arrived overnight delivery from Whirlpool.

The heater was cold twice this week when I took my morning shower. The first time I blamed it on bad luck and it relit, seemingly just as it was supposed to when I relit the pilot light. The second day I went to Lowes at lunch time to buy a new thermocouple- which they didn't have!

Seems I have a Flame Lock water heater- labeled by Whirlpool and only sold at Lowes. And Whirlpool is just settling a class-action lawsuit related to the unreliability of these machines. In the original configuration, the thermocouple apparently fails routinely and was left-hand threaded, meaning they were only available at Lowes.

So, I called Whirlpool and they sent me a complete new assembly- the sealed door with new tubes and new thermocouple, with an adapter that makes the assembly fit a normal right-hand thread thermocouple, for free except for the overnight shipping and Thursday night I installed it. Everything seemed wonderful- except that it is still not working! I even installed another thermocouple today as I couldn't make the device provide the correct readings on my multimeter this morning. Now that one isn't working either.

I've already replaced the gas valve just a few months ago when I was having problems and before I knew there were wide problems with every Flame Lock machine so I'm pretty stumped. I guess I'll call Whirlpool tomorrow and see if they can get this damm machine working properly so I can count on regular hot showers.

As I started out saying, we did finalize the re-financing of the house on Thursday, from the 21+ years we had on the old mortgage to just 15 years now. We also took out enough extra equity to pay for the windows we purchased last fall and to pay for the improvements & repairs to our kitchen and dining area. That work is done too so now there is just some cleaning up to do before everything is back to normal. Oh, I've got a bag of switches, outlets and cover plates to install too so that everything is white instead of brown or ivory.

But that's not getting done tonight...

I swear it never seems to end!

So I came out to the shop a few minutes ago to listen to the baseball game and do a little blogging. But before I could sit down I had to research why there was water trickling out of my gun locker...

That's right, there was water running across my shop floor that seemed to be originating from my gun locker! Argh! I opened it up and started pulling out rifles that were sitting in puddles in the protective foam of the floor of the locker. Where the hell's all this water coming from?

Its coming from the humidifier bag that I keep hanging up inside the locker to absorb the moisture. But the bag has a hole in the bottom so the water that has been collecting has been running out of the bag and down the metal of two of my favorite rifles. The Taurus looks terrible with most of the finish on the receiver ruined and the Savage/Stevens single-shot has rust damage to the barrel and receiver. Great!

Everything is sitting out now, airing out and I suppose I'll have to look into getting those two rifles cleaned up and re-blued or refinished somehow. I hate that I have to keep my guns outside just because the spousal unit is afraid of them even when they are locked securely in a locker.

Life is just whistling past right now

And there seems to be time enough for everything but blogging. I've got plenty of tasks around the yard today to keep me busy and I'm getting started in a minute or two. But I'm going to try to take enough time this afternoon to catch up with the excitement going on around the Wasted Electrons Headquarters.

But first, there's a hot water heater that's not heating that needs my attention.

I have tickets!

That's right, I just returned from purchasing a pair of tickets to the Mark Knopfler, Kill to get Crimson concert! I was able to score them for a bit less than full price, plus the included CD from a seller on KSL's classifieds. The seats are in the 19th row so we should have a reat view.

I'm mighty excited about seeing this show as I love to listen to Mark Knopfler play guitar and I really like his songs, so this should be a special show.

Now if I could just find my iPod connection cable... Its been ages since I synched it to my laptop and now it is AWOL and I can't load my new CD. Dang!

I'm whupped-

beat down, tired, sore, worn out and bushed. I shouldn't be so hammered but I am.

The job is beating my butt right now with all my program funds needing to be obligated by 1 August, not 30 September, as I was working towards. Now I have to get all the money obligated, through numerous, complicated channels or risk loosing it and crashing my program. On top of all the high-level funding attention my program (and me) are getting, nothing- absolutely nothing is coming together simply and streamlined and by the plan.

So, I am burning the brain cells and energy trying to get this program on track and at double-speed before I get clobbered for not completed on time.

Do you know how hard it is to buy ~58,000 feet of two sizes of wire today? Its not easy.


The kitchen overhaul is nearing completion and is really starting to look nice. The floors are done and there is minor painting to be finished. The countertops arrived and were installed yesterday and they look terrific.

Once the countertop was installed, it was my turn to do all the plumbing of the new sink and faucet. That turned out to be an all day effort and all done on my hands and knees, or my shoulders to get everything connected.

All the plumbing is new, including shut-off valves, all the way down to the cabinet floor. I also added an electrical box to the wall to enclose the garbage disposal wiring connections that used to just dangle. I installed a new garbage disposal and all new drain pipes.

Of course all that took multiple trips to the big-box store to get the parts- and then the right parts and then the extended length parts I needed to get everything to fit. And only the compression fitting on the icemaker connection leaked when I turned all the water back on. Of course it slipped out under pressure, and while I was under the sink, so it really soaked me pretty good before I got the water shut off!

Today I took it a little easier, meeting Carol for coffee then refinishing the boards that were being used as a floor under the sink that I removed yesterday. I also got the swamp cooler hooked up and running, swept out my shop and re-glued the chrome nose bumper on Sleek Black Beauty that had come loose. Removing the old glue with Goo-Gone took a long time but it didn't wreck the paint so I took the time. Its glued back on tonight and the tape is in place to hold it tight until tomorrow.

And when I get done posting this- I'm folding laundry so I will be ready for this week.

Speaking of this week- we should be closing on the house refinancing in a couple days. Wednesday night is a Mark Knopfler concert and although I don't have tickets just yet, I will have tickets by tomorrow and I'm going to that show! The BSU is agreeing to go along even if she doesn't care about the music. Its a night out so she'll humor me.

And the grass needs mowed!

Wow!

Just wow.

750,000 Lego blocks! Somebody has too much creativity and too much time on their hands!

What I did on Father's Day

Well, as Carol mentioned in the comments from an earlier post about my fishing trip, I sadly had to cancel our Sunday morning coffee date for a chance to go bass fishing. Sorry Carol!

And I still can't figure out how to make my phone and laptop talk to one another as they have in the past using the Bluetooth method. But I did finally manage to email myself a picture off my phone, even if it took a terribly long time to arrive and I didn't see it until now.

And now, you can see my very first Tiger Muskie!


I can tell you that fish put up a pretty hardy fight and it was terrific being able to get it all the way into the boat. He wrecked my lure but that's why they put more than one lure in the package!

And Carol, I'm pretty certain I'm free for this Sunday if you want to meet for coffee.

Logic

Two rednecks, Jim Bob and Bubba, are sitting at their favorite bar,
drinking beer. Jim Bob turns to Bubba and says, 'You know, I'm tired of
going through life without an education. Tomorrow I think I'll go to
the Community College and sign up for some classes.'

Bubba thinks it's a good idea, and the two leave.

The next day, Jim Bob goes down to the college and meets the Dean of
Admissions, who signs him up for the four basic classes: Math, English,
History, and Logic.

'Logic?' Jim Bob says. 'What's that?'

The dean says, 'I'll give you an example. Do you own a weed eater?'

'Yeah.'

'Then logically speaking, because you own a weed eater, I think that you
would have a yard.'

'That's true, I do have a yard.'

'I'm not done,' the dean says. 'Because you have a yard, I think
logically that you would have a house.'

'Yes, I do have a house.'

'And because you have a house, I think that you might logically have a
family.'

'Yes, I have a family.'

'I'm not done yet. Because you have a family, then logically you must
have a wife. And because you have a wife, then logic tells me you must
be a heterosexual.'

'I am a heterosexual. That's amazing, you were able to find out all of
that because I have a weed eater.'

Excited to take the class now, Jim Bob shakes the Dean's hand and leaves
to go meet Bubba at the bar. He tells Bubba about his classes, how he
is signed up for Math, English, History, and Logic.

'Logic?' Bubba says, 'What's that?'

Jim Bob says, 'I'll give you an example. Do you have a weed eater?'

'No.'

'Then you're a queer.'

Fishing two days in a row?

Is there a better way to spend a weekend? I didn't think so either so this weekend I've been fishing both mornings.

Yesterday's trip was with buddy Kenny, first out to Willard Bay, where we got in for free using my newly minted fun pass and then later out to Bear River. We didn't catch any fish but we did have a great time in the fresh air. We watched big squadrons of pelicans circling overhead and a second group of the big white birds sitting on the bank near to our favorite fishing spot. I have pictures of them too but I'm too tired to get out of my chair to go find the camera.

We quit a bit early yesterday so that Kenny could get home and do some yard chores so I spent the afternoon doing yardwork of my own.

Today's fishing trip was a real treat- I went bass fishing with a buddy, Mike from work, out to Pineview Reservoir. Mike's a real bass fishing enthusiast and participates in tournaments all over the place, so I was pretty pleased when he invited me out for some fishing today.

The water's high right now in the reservoir but Mike figured to find smallmouths hanging in the flooded shallows and that's where we fished. And we did find a few, though not as many as Mike had hoped. He caught 4 or 5 but missed that many or more by not getting the hook set at the right time.

I only caught bass towards the time we were wrapping it up for the morning but it was at the same time Mike had a fish on, so at one point we had 2 fish on at the same time.

I did catch one exciting fish, a Musky that swam right past me carrying my bait before we both realized he had picked it up. I watched this 3 foot long mouthful of teeth and attitude swim right past me, just gliding past the boat, and about the time I said, "Hey, look at that fish!", my fishing line tightened up hard. I think the fish and I both figured out at the same time that we were connected. It was an exciting fight but Mike got him into the net and I eventually managed to wrangle the mangled tube jig out of his scary mouth and turn him loose.

But not before taking our picture- that's one of them I want off my cell phone!

Anyway it was a great half day and I spent the rest of the afternoon wrestling with my pressure washer and chatting with my dad, my boys and one of my brothers. And tonight, I'm pretty tired!

Stoopid Camera!

I'm stumped. I have pictures on my cell phone and tonight I can't remember or figure out how to transfer them to my computer. The cell phone requests a pin number and I have no idea what that pin number might be. I called somebody once- don't remember who, maybe AT&T, and they told me a pin number that worked but of course I don't remember it.

So you can't see the pictures from today's fishing trip- sorry.

Popeye's Fried Chicken and Biscuits last night!

That’s right, the just- built Popeye’s opened yesterday on base! The new building has been under construction for months now so yesterday’s opening has been anxiously awaited. Awaited by a bunch more folks that just the BSU and myself as it turned out. There was just about a ½ hour wait after ordering to get chicken but everyone seemed to take it in good humor even though by the time we ordered the store had run out of spicy wings and red beans and rice.

 

We haven’t had a Popeye’s nearer than Mountain Home AFB in southwest Idaho until now so we don’t normally get this spicy, crunchy taste treat but I foresee that it will become a regular stop on my way home from work in the future.

 

BTW, I changed my login password so hopefully I’ve put the spammers off my trail for a few more weeks and they won’t be posting any further bogus posts here. And hopefully this post will make it into the system as this is the first time I’ve tried to post through email since changing the login requirements.

Woman finds money she threw away in trash truck

She doesn't want to be identified, but this woman was carrying nearly $200,000 in deposits for the company she works for. She got to the bank too late; so she took the deposits home, where they accidentally were thrown away and picked up by the garbage truck before the mistake was realized.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3512417

 

Doh! Somebody got lucky today!

Pot- meet Kettle

Kerry: McCain confused, 'unbelievably out of touch' .

I suppose it takes one out-of- touch senator to recognize another.

The yard's mowed!

Yup, I got that done tonight. Good!

On the remodeling front- much of the painting got done today and the tile work starts tomorrow. The repair and texturing of the ceiling looks terific- like there never was any damage.

There's not a single place to sit down upstairs that isn't covered up with either a tarp or sanding dust but overall, things are going well. We are still a week out for receiving the countertops but the job is really proceeding nicely.

BTW, I hate the refinancing process! Dealing with the mortgage people and all their daily increasing requirements is a real pain!

My next cell phone?

It arrives on July 11! Its the new Apple iPhone, now with GPS!

I played with one of the first generation iPhones a few weeks ago at the AT&T store and I have ot admit, I really liked it. The touch screen and slide is really intuitive and neat and I've been following the news leading up to today's announcement fora few weeks now. My current contract runs out almost exactly at the same time as next month's release, so I'm pretty certain I'll be putting an Apple in my pocket in July.

A black, 32 gig model, thanks.

Somebody is hurting tonight-

Though the meds seem to be keeping him pretty comfortable when we visited tonight.

My buddy Loc's son, Tom crashed his bullet bike motorcycle yesterday afternoon. He's laid up in the hospital for the 2nd night tonight with a concussion, a cracked collar bone, a bruised lung and scrapes and rashes over his legs.

Tom's a new rider, he just started early this spring, first with a 600cc bullet bike of some brand. Just a week or two ago he upgraded to a 1000cc bike and that is the one he crashed yesterday. He was on a popular motorcycle road, Trapper's Loop and somehow he crashed. I'm guessing he had the bike laid over for a sharp curve and couldn't respond to sand on the pavement. Anyway, he crashed and he's pretty beat up tonight.

His mom is telling him that he's not ever having another motorcycle, but that's what moms do. She has been pretty unhappy with his purchase from the beginning and this incident did nothing to reassure her. No big surprise there.

Anyway, Tom's a good guy and I'm sorry he's hurting and gets better real soon. There's lots of time for him to decide if he gets back on a motorcycle again.

Pretty certain I won't be buying this-

.Root beer flavored vodka by Three Olives.

I just saw an online advertisement for this stuff and I can't think of a flavor I would least rather have in my vodka. That doesn't sound good to me at all!

I have been drinking Skye Vodka’s citrus flavor for a couple months after joining the Absolut boycott for their Mexican "Perfect World" advertising campaign. But the state liquor stores are discontinuing it! I did buy 5 bottles to stock up last week since the store has discounted it by half until they sell it out.

But root beer flavored vodka? Pass.

[UPDATE- maybe root beer floats made with Three Olives could work out for a hot summer evening treat. I'll think about that for a while! And the Triple Expresso flavor might be pretty tasty too

Remodeling update

Everyting in the house is covered with sheetrock and sanding dust but otherwise the repairs are progressing quite smoothly. The concrete board is down on the floor, the tiles have arrived, the countertops are ordered and the new cabinet has been installed.

Rex had to move one base cabinet 1/2" to the right to align it with the corner and to make room for the tile that is going on the walls beside the stove. He's nearly finished with the ceiling crack repairs and should be texturing it next week.

I bought the sink Friday (Note to self- where's the cutting board that is supposed to be included? Its not in the box.) and we took the page of sink cutout diagrams over to the place that is ordering our countertops. I gave the paper to the BSU to have the store make a copy while I went outside to supervise the tile loading. When that was done, I came back inside and asked for my instruction page back from the staff. The same fellow that had made the counter top templates took me back to his desk to get the paper and- surprise! The gal at the front desk had circled the WRONG picture on the page! We would have ended up with a 38" hole cut into out top where we needed to put a 33" sink!

I was so happy I doubled checked that little fact!

Still haven't purchased a sink but I think its going to be either this one, that I like best or this one, that the BSU prefers. We've got a week or so to decide before it is installation time.

I've finished the flowerbed out front. Both my buddy Loc and the BSU think its too full before the flowers even have a chance to grow but I like my flowerbeds full. It should help to keep the weeds and the cat out of there.

Today I need to mow and then I need to do some painting outside. I don't have much wood trim out there but it has been several years since it was painted and its looking pretty bad. And the worst part is just above the flowerbed I just planted! Now I need to figure out how to scrape and paint without getting paint chips all over my flowers or trampliing them to death!

Sooner or later, I'm hoping for a rest! I was supposed to go fishing with Carol's hubby, Dave this afternoon but he got tapped for CQ duty this weekend and so is sleeping his afternoon away. Maybe I'll take the BSU fishing later. We'll see.

Hey, thanks, Comcast!

I ran into trouble with my email the other day. For some reason my Outlook Express was disconnecting immediately upon my signing in. I could download new email and even read it, I just couldn't send anything out.

So I called 1-800-COMCAST. The first guy I spoke to wasn't much help and his diction was just terrible- it sounded like he had a mouthful of marbles. But he promised to send my problem up to the next higher level of expertise and gave me a CR number to follow-up on.

Today, Comcast called me back. And through a few minutes of conversation and settings changes with a guy who did not sound like he was talking with his mouth full, we got my Outlook Express working again. Seems that there was an port error that had imposed itself on my settings for no good reason except to aggravate me. But its fixed now, thanks to realistic, clear-speaking help from Comcast.

Thanks!

Loop-the-Loop Waterslide!

Yeah! I want to ride this water slide! If you've known me for any length of time, you know I love waterslides and water parks. This slide looks like an absolute hoot to ride and I would do it in a second!

Airfare to Germany for the vacation might be kind of spendy though!

How lazy am I?

I bought a new wireless mouse for my laptop the other day because my old one just died in its sleep. It worked perfectly one night and wouldn't work at all the next. So I bought a new one, a Logitech LX7. If you look at the picture, you will see 2 small buttons just behind the scroll wheel.

Those buttons perform "back" and "forward" clicks when surfing the internet. That means you no longer have to push your mouse up to the left-pointing arrow when you want to go back to a web page- you just click the little button on the mouse!

I bought this thing over the weekend. Today I found my index finger heading for that button on my work computer's mouse several times. What? No, I wasn't browsing the internet at work, of course not! But seriously, I've gotten so used to this little bit of tiny button magic that I'm already reaching for it instinctively! I really like this feature.

And it makes surfing the internet even easier and faster while using even less energy to move the mouse back and forth. That's how lazy I am!

Pretty certain I have to turn in my "Man Card"

Tonight I voluntarily spent more than 100 bucks on flowers and mulch. Flowers I picked out myself. And I need a couple more...

Planting flowers and digging around in the dirt is NOT part of my job description! But I did it tonight, just so I won't have an ugly, empty flower bed on the front of my house.

Picked out the new sink and faucet-

Now we just need to get down to Home Depot and buy them. Links later if I remember…

 

The trim tile missed the truck and now won’t be delivered until Friday. But that’s no big deal because the contractor’s not ready for it yet anyway. They are scraping and sanding and preparing to paint today. Yesterday was mostly a loss as the contractor’s wine-soaked helper fell off a ladder at the first job of the morning and broke his ankle. So the contractor didn’t make it over until late- emergency room visits will do that to ya and today he has a new, untrained but perhaps less drunken helper.

 

Tonight I’m planting flowers in a previously abandoned by everyone but the cat flower bed after scraping and digging out the weeds and several pounds of cat poop last night. Since our house is being appraised shortly, I want it to be as tidy looking as I can make it. So tonight- flowers!

 

The BSU & I have both been chasing documentation requested today by the credit union as part of our refinancing effort. That has required phone calls to places we haven’t talked to for several years but has been mostly successful. I still have to make a stop on the way home and by the end of the week, we should have all those questions resolved.

 

And- its only Tuesday…

Where the heck have I been?

I've been busier 'n a 1-armed wallpaper hangar all week long and with the extended hours of daylight in the evenings, I haven't even been sitting down until I'm too tired to tell you all about the fun in my life.

In a nutshell, I've been working on the yard, fixing and replacing sprinklers and a couple lines that got plugged up with mud. Its a typical springtime activity around here and I'm running late this year and except for 1 busted line that the neighbor pointed out this evening, I'm about up & running. Now I'll just have to remember to turn the sprinklers on routinely. And mow, since putting water on the grass only encourages it to stay green and get taller every day. I've also trimmed tree branches, sprayed Round-Up on a dilapidated vegetable garden that's gone to weeds and carried out the furniture from upstairs that the BSU insisted be tossed out. I still need to make a run to the landfill to get rid of those.

Today I had to take a few hours and go to Salt Lake and make some repairs to the eldest's car. He called yesterday to say that he had hit a rock and apparently punched a hole in the car's oil pan. Sure enough, that is exactly what happened, he had a small hole in the edge of the cast aluminum oil pan. So we jacked the car up, cleaned off the grit and oil and used some JB Weld to patch up the hole and it seemed to work just perfectly.

The renovations have begun on the kitchen and dining room and I suppose it will only be 3 or 4 weeks before everything is back together, painted, tiled and topped. The BSU and I purchased the new base cabinet this evening. The old flooring was removed on Friday and the new tile arrives on Tuesday. I understand that the construction guy is going to do the painting and sheet rock repairs first and then do the flooring last. We still have to get the counters measured for the new solid countertops and pick out a new sink. The counter measuring folks better get over here quick because I understand that is a 2-3 week wait for the tops to get made.

We still haven't come to a decision about the new sink. The BSU insists that it be deep, gloss white and with a center divider. She is leaning towards the rimless style that is below the surface of the countertop, I prefer the traditional rimmed stle sinks because I think the rimless models look unfinished or like they are missing something. We have looked at Home Depot and Lowes and neither place seems to have the perfect sink. And I'm real certain we won't be buying the display Kohler model that we saw; it was 800 bucks and still required 2 of the $110 drain stoppers! Seems to me that if you're buying a $800 sink that they should throw in the stoppers and there is just no reason that the stoppers should cost over a hundred bucks each. That's just crazy talk!

I got started on the refinancing of the house this past week too. We are aiming for a 15 year mortgage instead of the 21+ years we currently have, I'm paying for the renovations and the new windows from last fall with some of the equity and I'm still going to be paying off the mortgage early.

So, its been a busy and exciting week. Youngest son has taken possesion of his Suzuki C50 motorcycle that he has been working to purchase. He got it today, complete with a leather jacket, helmet and saddlebags from the previous owner. He called to let me listen to it on the phone! Yeah, he's pretty excited. He still has to get a Colorado drivers license and sign up for a motorcycle safety riding course. But, most every young guy needs to ride a motorcycle for a year or two and I'm happy for hime. I think he will do well and maybe he become a enthusiastic rider for many years.

It looks like any outside work will be completely impossible today...

Its raining even harder now outside, a real downpour is going on out there. Maybe I'll get out to the shop and get the Phantom scooter put back together today.

I did get quite a lot accomplished this weekend though my work is far from done. I got the back patio cleared off and some branches and the old trumpet vine that we dug up cut up and into the trash bin. I also redid my secondary water distribution and filter assembly since it froze and broke at the only place I couldn't drain last fall. This year I mounted everything to the back wall of the shop so I can clean the filter standing up and I installed a drain plug at the very bottom of the line. I've weeded most of a flower bed, had a guy come over and power rake the thatch out of my front lawn, installed a new, bigger US flag and mount out front and got one of my broken sprinkler risers repaired. I also replaced the sticky cartridge in the kitchen faucet.

Now I think I'm going to get comfortable with my coffee cup and the new Jimmy Buffett book, A Salty Piece of Land that I bought last night.

Last week's fishing trip-

Was a terrific vacation and respite from every day efforts. As you might remember, I received a late notice invite from my buddy Kenny to go along on his annual fishing trip with Jim, the "other Grandpa", should their two married children ever decide to procreate. Jim's an avid fisherman and has a boat, while Kenny has a camper, so their's is a match made in fishing heaven and this year the regular "third guy" couldn't participate, so I was asked if I wanted to tag along. I am so glad I was asked and was able to go fishing with these guys!

You can read Kenny's version of the trip here and see some of the pictures that Kenny took of the scenery and fish we caught.

I have to say it was nearly a perfect weekend of fishing with two great guys. The weather cooperated perfectly, the fish were biting (some of the time) and we had a great time in the boat and in the campsite and camper. We all brought food and pitched in with meal preparation though since we were all guys, the food was pretty easy stuff to heat and eat. There was plenty though and we never went hungry.

Flaming Gorge is a beautiful place with dramatic rock cliffs of differing colors and shapes. Because of the nature of the reservoir, many places the water is 60-100 feet deep just a few yards from shore but in other places there are large beaches and shallow water. The sightseeing from the boat was almost as enjoyable as the fishing and since we did a lot of trolling for fish, there was time for lots of sitting back and enjoying the views and vistas.

One of the most fun parts of the weekend was showing Kenny and Jim how to catch rainbow trout using typical bass fishing techniques! During the first afternoon, while we were fishing by trolling along some huge red cliffs I decided to try to see just how close to the shore the fish might be by repeatedly casting a big, white tube jig against the rocks from the front of Jim's boat. I didn't know if I would catch any fish but I was a little bored of just sitting so it seemed like a good idea at the time. And I caught a really nice fish with this method! You should have seen the look on Kenny's face, it was hilarious! He was sure it was a fluke that a trout would try to eat this 3" tube jig but he did and I repeated the scene the following day just off the dock while Kenny went to get the truck and trailer at the end of the day.

On Sunday, when we only had a couple hours to fish before having to break camp to return home, we returned to the same cliffs. After getting nearly skunked trolling, Kenny talked Jim into moving the boat right up against the rocks and they both then tried my method of casting a white jig right against the rocks and they both caught fish! For a while we were able to actually see trout in 12-15 feet of water attacking the jigs we tossed in front of them! It was really exciting fishing and everyone hated having to quit when it was time to head back to the boat launch for the last time.

So, it was a terrific weekend and I hope I behaved myself well enough to get invited back next year. Here's some pictures from the trip and don't miss the pictures at Kenny's post.

Here's the welcoming committee at the boat launch-


These fish come right back to the boat launch area because that's where they were originally put into the lake, so when its spawning time, they come back to the same place. There were quite a lot of fishermen trying their luck from the banks and some of the fish did actually succumb to their efforts and got taken out of the water. It was pretty remarkable to see them just under the boat as it was backed in though and certainly was an encouraging sight.

Here's Kung-Fu Kenny-




Antelope are everywhere in Lucerne, Utah and we had visitors to our cmpground nearly every morning. This one was just about 40 feet away from the camper when we woke up one morning.




I did mention the beautiful rock scenery and vistas, right? Here's proof-










As always, click the small pictures to see the full size pictures.

The home repairs start this week!

Oh, this is going to be painful... I mentioned in the previous post that I received a significant amount of retroactive pay from the VA last week and the BSU has already called Rex the contractor to come over and give us an estimate for the remodeling and repairs to our kitchen and dining room. We have had bare sheetrock on a wall and the ceiling where she removed a closet several years ago and there are room rugs covering up the area where the dining table sits, where only subfloor material resides since we moved in in 1999. We have an unused portable dishwasher taking up space where a new cabinet is going to go and be turned into a breakfast bar.

So, we are getting a new tile floor throughout the dining area and kitchen. The walls are getting finished and the ceiling is getting textured and painted. We have to pick out the cabinet and then Rex will install it and then we have to hire another contractor to install new countertops. And of course, the BSU doesn't want laminate countertops- too 60s looking according to her, so we have been looking at acrylic top colors. Of course, that means we will have to replace the sink and then the faucet assembly and redo the backsplash areas too. We won't be replacing the cabinets or doors right now but I suspect new doors might not be too far away in my future. I also suspect it will be weeks before my upstairs area returns to a finished appearance...

But, it needs doing and I can't get my dad, the busy handyman, to to drive up from Florida and bring his tools to do the job so I guess Rex will get the work. And my VA compensation will be put to good use right off the bat. Stand by for updates and pictures...

Its Memorial Day and its raining

So what better time to catch up on my blogging?

I'm washed out from doing repairs on my sprinkler system this morning so I might as well stay inside where its warm and my coffee pot is nearby. The weather guessers say it might clear off later but right now it is too wet to get outside.

My hummingbird population is beginning to grow, with 3 regular visitors to the feeder outside the dining room window. Right now there are two males claiming the feeder as their own and a single female appeared yesterday. Today they are trying to hide under the porch roof from the rain but there's just no good places to hang on so they keep looking in my window, just outside where I am sitting.

Here's some pretty interesting news- I am now not only a veteran due to my military service but I'm also a disabled vet. Long time readers and family, (redundancy alert!) might remember that I finally applied for disability consideration back in September 2007. I could have done this as far back as 2000 when I retired but I deferred this action out of laziness and apathy. But I finally went through the disability consideration process- which was not all that bad, really and this week I finally received the Veteran Administration's decision. I have received a 60% disability rating!

What does all this mean? Well, it means a lot of things, not the least of which is a considerable amount of cash will be deposited into my savings account each month. The amount is 60% of my retirement pay and most interesting, it is tax free. I also received a retroactive payment from September until now. Additionally, with the letter I received from the VA, my property tax on the house will be reduced to probably 0 dollars per year, saving me another $1000 per year and I will receive free entrance to Utah State Parks and all our US National Parks! Finally, and the real reason I applied for disability consideration in the first place, I will be able to apply for any Civil Service job that I wish to apply for on base, even if it is normally open only to persons already in Civil Service employ.

So one of my next steps is to start shopping for a permanent, Civil Service job doing the Program Manager work that I'm currently doing as a support contractor!

I'm also beginning the process to refinance the mortgage so I can pay for some improvements on the house and put a new roof on the shop. As our house is currently VA backed for payment support, I discovered that because of my disability, I can be excused from paying the VA financing fee which is several thousand dollars! Right now we are planning to refinance the house for 15 years instead of the existing 21+ years and with the extra funds that I will be receiving from VA I will be able to add extra to the principle most every month and probably pay for the house in under 10 years! This disability thing is turning out to be a good deal!

I'm back- and my iPod has returned today too!

I made it back from the most wonderful weekend fishing trip ever. The weather was perfect, the company was friendly, the fish were (mostly) biting and it was really hard to quit when it was time to return home yesterday. I’ll tell more tales of the great fish trip later and post some pictures.

 

And surprisingly, my iPod returned today! Regular readers might remember that I loaned it to a friend who was apparently near death last October in hopes that having some music to listen to would stimulate his brain and aid in his recovery. My friend did recover and receive a medical retirement from the government and he’s been back home for several months. He doesn’t have much short-term memory left and he doesn’t remember to call me when we set up meet dates and the last time I asked him about my iPod, he had forgotten that he even had it. Where it might have landed in his house was an even bigger mystery.

 

So I had written it off. I have been looking at replacements and rather casually considering replacing my current cell phone with an iPhone. Right now they are overpriced and I couldn’t justify purchasing one. But rumor has it that Apple is introducing a 3^rd generation model next month that includes GPS and much faster internet connections. Rumors are also circulating on the internet that AT&T will introduce the new machines with a couple hundred dollar price cut at just about exactly the same time as my current contract expires.

 

So- if the new iPhone does appear and if AT&T discounts it decently and if I can wrangle a deal with a new contract- I might just buy myself a fancy new phone that can double as my music player and storage. We’ll see.

This is terrific!

It really made me laugh, maybe you too.
[UPDATE] I tried to embed this video but it doesn't seem to be working. So just check out the cats on a treadmill video directly.

Busy- Real Life intrudes

But since when has that stopped me from semi-regular blogging? After all, semi-regular is about the best I ever do, it just gotten even less frequently lately. Sorry. But Real Life is keeping me busy and coming up later this week I'll be disconnected from the inter tubes for 4 whole days.

That's right, I'm getting back on another boat with Kenny for 4 days! We'll even be cabin mates this time as we are going fishing instead of on a cruise. Kenny has been going on a Flaming Gorge fishing trip for the past several years with a couple other guys and this year the guy that doesn't own the boat had to drop out at the last minute. So I got the invite to go along! We're leaving Thursday, returning sometime Sunday, staying in Kenny's camper and fishing from Jim's boat. It sounds like a load of fun and the BSU didn't complain one minute when I asked her last night. So I'm going fishing.

And that means tonight I have to go buy some groceries. And probably some additional fishing gear. Hey, doesn't every fishing trip require more gear? Kenny's emailing me right now saying we should leave RIGHT NOW before he spends another dollar at Sportsman's Warehouse! He hasn't purchased a new tackle box to hold all his new stuff but there's still tomorrow's lunchtime before we leave on Thursday.

Also tonight, Loc is coming over to the house to pick up his rifle and there's another guy coming over to look at the Avenger to consider buying it. I guess I can put off buying a new string trimmer for a few days since I won't be using it before next week.

I do need a new trimmer as the one I have now, purchased in 1980 off of a discount rack has finally gotten to the point of not working and I think I will just retire it after 18 years of dutiful service. The one I have starts now but won't continue running and it looks like the crankcase gasket is completely oil soaked and leaking and I just don't feel like messing with it. Plus I have a $25 discount coupon from Lowes, so I think a new trimmer will be taking up residence in my storage shed.

So- I have a grocery shopping list to make, car parts to pull out from under the bench, and decisions about lake trout or rainbow trout patterned crankbaits to purchase. And there's work stuff to take care of too!

Home early this Sunday night-

Well after getting home late last week on Sunday, we managed to get home a little earlier tonight. We went to Salt Lake this evening to take Kye & his GF, Stephanie out to dinner to celebrate Mother's Day. Since it was Mom's special day, she got to pick the place and of course, the place was Outback. Its her favorite place and even though I think its way over rated, that's where we went.

The wait wasn't too terrible and the weather was pleasant so it was pretty nice outside while we took our turn for a table. Our waitress was hard working, friendly and eager, in spite of the level of activity she was dealing with on the busiest day of the restaraunt year. And so we're home, over full and happy.

I called Mom this afternoon and we had a nice chat and I got the chance to wish her a happy Mothers Day. I bought her flowers and they were delivered on time and she said they were beautiful, so I guess I did pretty good there. I've a package here to mail tomorrow for her and Grandma and I'm keeping the contents secret until after it gets delivered.

I got the yard mowed- out front, today, for the first time this year. The back yard still awaits. The Murray mower started right back into service after its rest time in the shed but the string trimmer might have finally given up the ghost. I got it working but it won't stay running for any more than a few seconds. Its only provided 18 years of reliable service for the 60 or 70 bucks I paid for it so it might just be time to retire it and get a new one. Just doing my part for the President's Economic Stimulus Package...

Kenny & I went fishing yesterday and we got lucky- the fish weren't biting and so we didn't have to clean any fish when we got home. It was a very nice day with lots of terrific scenery to look at and birds to watch so not catching any fish didn't spoil the day.

What else? I got Loc's pistol repaired by installing a new magazine catch and I'm pretty certain I am going to turn the gun into my gun instead of his now that I've fixed its bugs. I pocket carried it tonight and it was no more trouble than my P3-AT.

My local city of Ogden had a bit of excitement last night when the police had to teargas a house to breakup a party and standoff that eventually got 17 people arrested! I'm sure glad that didn't happen on my block!

So that's it for this weekend from behind the Zion Curtain. There are some other (maybe) exciting things happening that I can't reveal just now until I get some confirmations from a couple places and persons but I will spill the beans whenever it becomes official.

Its what time?

So this morning I woke up,took off and turned off my cpap machine, got up, scratched a little bit and went upstairs to put my coffee water in the Brita filter pitcher. Then I went back downstairs, took my shower, dried off, petted Uinta cat like I do every morning when he comes in to visit after my shower, put on my anti-perspireant, underwear and a shirt off the clean clothes stack and then walked back into the bedroom for the rest of my clothes. My nightstand alarm clock read 3:06.

What? Yeah, 3:06. Same thing on the BSU's clock, 3:06. I went back into the bathroom, the battery operated clock read the same time. What the heck am I doing out of bed 3 hours early?

So I went back to bed. When the alarm does go off at 5:20, I hit the snooze button for an extended snooze- after all, I've already had my shower; I can sleep in for a bit! Except that Uintah cat came in through the pet door at 5:30, making that noise he makes when he wants to show you some critter he's killed. Sure enough, he's killed a mouse and carried it in to show it off. I gotta get up to dispose of the mouse.

Alright, alright, I'm up! No point in going back to bed now. So I got dressed, made my coffee and got to work 1/2 hour early today! What's that all about on a Friday?
I gotta stop skipping my citrus flavored vodka before bedtime if this silly behavior keeps up!

Breaking up is hard to do-

Normally, but not today! Goodbye MCI & good riddance! Today’s the day that the Comcast technician arrives to install our new modem and connects out telephones to the cable instead of the phone company’s box on the wall. Hurray! The new modem has an 8 hour Uninterruptible Power Supply incorporated to ensure we continue to have telephone connectivity during a power outage.

 

I looked at our MCI bill the other day, $40 for the basic service and $27 in all the taxes and fees. I can’t wait to be rid of this obnoxious bill. I’ll be saving money every month by paying Comcast, reducing my bill paying load by paying just one company instead of two and enjoying the special rate for bundling that Comcast has offered me for the next 12 months. When that special package expires, I’ll be leaning towards getting the landline disconnected and getting the spouse to go completely wireless for our telephone needs.

 

We will still have the same home phone number, so if you have us in your address book there won’t be any changes required. And if you are peddling something over the phone lines- go away!

The Only Ones-

With apologies to David Codrea at The War on Guns who already included this story on his much better read blog but I couldn't pass up mentioning the story of a local police chief that
shot himself in the ankle while giving a briefing to his troops on how to clear a jam on a loaded pistol!

You know, Red Foreman and I have a name for people like this- Dumbass!

Oh yeah- a couple more things

Remember a month ago when I skied into the sharp edge of the halp pipe in the fog at Powder Mountain? I have to tell you, I really did some damage to my legs! While I didn't do any permanent damage, I am still bruised and sore and achy at both my knees and my left calf. Just about everything I do that involves bending or lifting really hurts- still! I can't wait for all the pains to subside so I can feel better.

I also had a fault with Sleek Black Beauty coming home from Salt Lake City yesterday. Before I got home the right turnsignal had quit working. Tonight I had time to tear it apart to discover that the connector plug for the wire harness had broken its retainer clip and it pulled apart. Electricians tape substituted for the broken clip and it went back together.

Additionally, I had to remove the left side mirror and drill and tap a hole through the mirror stem and the adapter that threads into it. Then I installed a set screw into the two parts, locking them together. That mirror won't be turning around again any time soon!

What, no weekend update?

That's right, I missed posting a weekend update yesterday and my dad took me to task for it this morning. I didn't get home until nearly 10:30 last night and I was too tired to even think about blogging. Sorry.

So what did I do all weekend? Let's see-

Friday night I took the BSU to see Leatherheads. Its a reasonably funny movie about the early days of professional football, back when it was played in cow pastures. George Clooney directs and stars in this film, along with Renee Zellweger, who while she isn't my favorite female, still looks pretty good in viintage lingerie. Anyway, this is a simple film obviously created so George could have a fun time playing football and playing in the mud in front of a camera. So its no Oscar nominee but its plenty good fun.

Saturday began with errands around town, on the scooter and a stop at the local Yamaha shop where they were having an open house. Then it was back to the driveway and almost a full day of re-installing seatbelts in the boy's Tempo. I got nearly all the job done and finished up on Sunday.

I did have coffee with Carol on Sunday and got to ogle her new Camry hybrid before returning home to finish up the work on the car. Then it was off to a friend's retirement from the Utah National Guard after 28+ years of military service. The retirement ceremony was down in Salt Lake City and I rode the scooter down there and back home after a really long ceremony for three retiring NCOs.

As soon as I got home there was more work to do on the car as the dinger under the dash wouldn't shut up even when the car was running! That involved tearing the dash apart until I found the offending dinger, disconnecting it and putting everything back together before we could deliver the car to him, back down in Salt Lake City!

It was also his birthday this week and his GF's too, so the spouse and I took them out to a mediocre dinner at Applebees, sat for quite a long time afterwards chatting and then finally, returned home.

So, I was whupped. I had to go to work today to try and rest up and the workload there didn't allow for a minutes rest either.

There's a beutiful new, gray kitten at the boy's house, to replace a cat that belonged to the GF but managed to run away, and a young ferret! They are both just as cute as can be and apparently they like to wrestle and play together when they aren't worn out and napping. And he has the car, finally, and its time to get it inspected and licensed and insured and transferred into his name. He's taking it for the safety and emissions inspections tomorrow and hopefully, (keep your fingers crossed), it will pass ans be on its way to being fully legal.

So that's how I spent my weekend. I still don't have the grass mowed or raked, the Phantom put back together, the driveway floodlight replaced or any of the other numerous chores that need doing around here. But I'll get to them next...

I knew we should have gone to last night's game!

Last night the BSU & I took the eldest boy & his GF out to dinner to celebrate their birthdays, both of which were last week. I wanted to take them to a playoff hockey game to see if the Grizzlies could put away the Steelheads and advance on to the conference finals. But we didn’t go to the game, electing instead to go to Applebees for a mediocre meal. But we should have gone to the E Center, eaten pizza and watched the Grizzlies win, 8-3. Dang! http://www.ksl.com/?nid=294&sid=3230497 I’m pretty certain we will be hitting a championship game or two next week though!

 

Diet Coke and Mentos in Slo-Mo- you have to see this!

Ok, so I’m trying to get cranked up for another exciting week of work this morning and while drinking my first cup of coffee, I found  a really fun video that I just have to share. This is too much fun so don’t miss it! http://gizmodo.com/386936/mentos-and-diet-coke-explosion-at-1200fps-casio-ex+f1-strikes-again

 

Something else I recently discovered- if you download the latest version of http://www.real.com/, RealPlayer, you can download and save those YouTube videos that previously you could only stream to watch online. I’ve tried it a couple times now and its really painless; just click the “download this video” button and it will be saved to your computer for sharing with your friends. It’s neat stuff.

Alright- I'm staying with Comcast

If you happened to read my post from last week about my plans to
leave Comcast, you know that I was unhappy with their prices for my current services. And you might have seen the comment left behind by a Comcast Customer Service representative asking me to get in touch to discuss my unhappiness.

Well- I did get in touch, through a couple different phone calls and a failed attempt to get logged into their online bill management system which required more phone calls to correct. And- I'm staying with Comcast; they have kept me as a customer for another year.

I'm keeping my existing cable and internet connection and adding their telephone service to replace my current service through MCI. All told, I'm reducing my monthly expenses by more than 100 dollars which is a very good thing. Comcast's prices for their services will be good for 12 months before reverting to the normal prices but maybe by then they will be offering a fixed price for life similar to their competitors.

But, after next week when everything gets switched over and the new modem gets installed and everything is working, I think I'm going to be happy with Comcast again. Thanks to their anxious-to-assist customer service staff.