Now accepting donations!

A few weeks back, while I was off work and working on my workshop roof, I came out one morning to the sound of my air compressor running and air leaking. Seems that the pressure regulator had ruptured and the compressor had been running for quite a long time. There was oil flung all over the shop floor and the room was warmed up uncomfortably from the heat coming off the pump. So I turned everything off, replaced the pressure regulator and changed out the little bit of oil still in the crankcase of the pump. It was pretty nasty looking oil, believe me!

Afterwards the compressor worked but the pump sounded like a bucket of hammers sitting on a paint shaker. It just made horrible noises every time it kicked on. I knew its life was nearly over and would need replacement. This past weekend I tried to buy a pump from Harbor Freight but the pulleys were incompatible and I could not figure out where to get the right one to match their pump to my motor, so I returned it.

My compressor's a Craftsman model so I looked up the new pump. Its $283 plus tax! Yikes! Since I'm just now getting back to work, this is a bit more than I can spare right now, even though Sears says the have the part in stock and ready to ship.

Last night I took it apart to see if I might be able to just perform a minor overhaul, maybe put in some new rings and crank bearings to make it good. But there are no crank bearings and new rings won't work in the cylinder that's worn as badly as this one. Check out the pics:











(As always, you can see the biggie size by clicking on the small pics.)

There's no sense trying to put parts into this worn out pump. It almost appears that somebody ran a hone through the cylinders sometime before I bought it used 6 years ago. But this block is shot and machine work to fix it would be more costly than replacing it.

So if you owe me a birthday present or two, or if you're feeling generous 'just because', I'll take any donations you care to send my way. Heck, I'd even be willing to put donor's names on my compressor as sponsors!

So, the new job seems like it will be good-

Although I have to admit that after working 2 days last week, I wasn't anxious to go back again for a full week today. It seems like 2 days per week ought to be enough to get the job done. Hey, its working for Kenny as he finishes off his career!

Anyway, I've finally gotten all the connectivity and a computer running and email so I guess I have to keep going in every morning. I think the job will be pretty good, and less headache than the last one, once I get everything figured out. The folks I'm working with seem friendly and helpful and I have a 4 seater cubicle mostly to myself so there's nobody to interrupt or bug me while I figure out the inner workings of this new job.

The cell phone connectivity does suck throughout and around my building- that's a bad thing. It seems to be right in the middle of a cell tower black hole and that's a bummer. Otherwise, its all good.

Hey Dad,

Start here!

Seems AOL is killing its blogging service and he needs to move Roger's Ramblings to new digs.

True? You be the judge!

Your result for The Classic Leading Man Test...

Clark Gable

You scored 45% Tough, 33% Roguish, 14% Friendly, and 10% Charming!

You're a helluva guy and a bit of an enigma. You're a man's man, tough talking and ready for anything, and you make the ladies swoon with your rakish ways. You're equally admired by both men and women alike, drinking other men under the table all the while charming the socks off half a dozen lovelies. You're a commanding presence, and you know how to get what - and who - you want when you want it. You're drawn to women who, like you, are savvy enough to deal with the world on their own terms. You work well with spitfires. Leading ladies include Joan Crawford, Myrna Loy, and Jean Harlow. No damsels in distress for you.

Find out what kind of classic dame you'd make by taking the
Classic Dames Test.

Take The Classic Leading Man Test at HelloQuizzy

Stung! Stolen! Watch out for Data Safe Solutions!

This is really interesting and not yet resolved but we will be filling in the forms to get our money back later today. But this morning I discovered that Data Safe Solutions, a company that promises to protect the consumer from fraud and online theft, has in fact taken nearly $400 from our checking account overnight!

I've been to the credit union, they reviewed the electronic version of the check that was presented and paid and offered me the phone number, which I Googled to find this rip-off agency. I also discovered that I'm not the only one that this has happened to.

I have no idea how this company scored my account number but they did and I don't know yet if I'll get our money back or if I'll have to go through the hassle of changing our account number but I will soon.

My advice to you is to be on the watch for this company's illegal attack on your money by watching your accounts.

Ok, you have to watch this-

Obama's teleprompter has demands. Its hilarious!

Well this looks like an exciting ride!

Can I get a test ride on this? Apparently it is a Brudelli Leanster. Its a 645cc KTM powered, leaning 3-wheeler and it looks like a real blast to ride. Make sure to check out the galery of pictures!

So besides movies, what else have I been doing?

Well let's see. Friday the BSU took me shopping for new job clothes so that I'll look all spiffy when I report to work on Thursday. I've got new slacks and shirts and socks so I'll be as well dressed as its possible for me to be. We happened to see the owner of the body shop that repaired the truck when we rolled it a few years back and I mentioned that the truck needed some paint repair on the fender flange. He told me to bring it out to the shop and I did and tomorrow his shop is going to fix up my chipped paint.

Saturday I worked on the shop, putting things back inside that had been sitting outside the entire time. I hung a new security light outside and rehung the door illumination light. I've finished the raingutter on the back of the shop and just have 2 doors to build and hang to finish my closets. Then there are some trim boards to put back on so I can call the project finished outside.

Inside I still want to insulate my new roof, there are some hurricane straps to finish installing and probably some caulking to be squirted into cracks around the edges. And the never-ending sweep-up of the sawdust that has filled every nook and cranny continues.

Today I took the BSU to church and took my buddy Ben fishing for a bit. Both were really pleasant ways to spend a few hours.

A movie you should spend your money on-

Eagle Eye! This movie doesn't have all the pretensions of Miracle of St Anna, its just a great movie. Its an action adventure drama with two unwilling characters, brought together and trying to save their own skin by complying with a woman that contacts them through cell phones, blinking parking garage signs and can seemingly see their every move, no matter where they are.

This movie is fast paced, exciting and turns out to be related to another famous thriller movie but to tell you more would spoil it. This movie is as fast paced and thrilling as The Bourne Ultimatum and is worthy of your movie ticket and popcorn dollars.

Worst movie ever!

Let me save you 8 bucks and a bucket of popcorn right now- Miracle at St Anna sucks hind tit. Really. It may be the worst movie I've seen in a year or more.

I know this movie is Spike Lee's big movie that he hopes to score an Oscar with later in the year, but this movie is just horrible. First of all, its 2 hours and 40 minutes long and there are enough unrelated, disconnected and disjointed scenes included that should have been cut out that the movie could have been cut back to 2 hours easily. There are scenes- including scenes that include titties, that are completely unneccesary to the story and should have been left on the editing room floor.

Next, this is a war story, so there's violence on the screen, lots of violence. In some of the scenes it is as gritty as Saving Private Ryan. But there's lots more violence, scenes of women and children being slaughtered by the evil Nazis that are just gratuitious and ugly and unneccesary to the story. The tale could have been told just as easily without the very excess violence.

And this is a story about 4 black soldiers from the 92nd Infantry Division, a segregated unit. So the story is about the war from the point of view of these 4 soldiers, the good hearted but simple giant, the womanizing preacher and two more soldiers just trying to get out of Italy alive. There's lots of yakking about their fears and feelings and flashbacks to how they were mistreated back in the US in spite of their uniforms. And it seems to go on forever!

There's magic- a little Italian boy that one soldier rescues revives a broken radio just by touching it; there are ghosts and two soldiers fighting to have first chance to seduce the one attractive woman in the village and there is a back story of the Italian Partisan rebels and their tales of treachery and traitors.

There's also, (and finally) a modern day story about a marble head, missing for decades from a famous bridge that's found in the closet of a murderous postal employee that is supposed to tie all these strings together into a comprehensive story. It all fails quite miserably in my humble opinion. Finally, the movie is called Miracle at St Anne, but I couldn't find a miracle when only 2 people survived the inevitable Nazi overrun of the village. That's hardly a miracle in my book!

This story is overblown, over-acted and under edited, all for the sake of Spike Lee aiming for a big prize with the Academy. Its horrible, skip it!

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

I got an exciting phone call just a while ago, seems I'm the company's choice for the job I interviewed for on Monday! Nothing official yet- its in the hands of HR people someplace now, but I've been told to be expecting a call or email very soon.

I've already sent my resume to one company this AM and am about to send it to another as soon as I finish this post. But I have to go down to the Department of Workforce Services to use their computer. For some reason that I can't figure out, my computer does not cooperate with many online job loading web pages. So I'll get on Sleek Black Beauty here shortly and make the trip to DWS and upload it there.

But I'm excited!

[UPDATE} It's official! I'll be getting paperwork in the immediate future, I have to pass a drug screen and then I'll get the official offer paperwork after that. It looks like I'll be starting 1 October. Sweet!

I'm not dead-

just busy. And when I'm not busy, I'm tired. I'm still unemployed, with resumes out several places and not many people calling me back. I did have an interview yesterday that seemed to go well and I hope I get a return call on that job still this week.

I've rebuilt the closets on the front of the shop, finishing up this afternoon, with just the doors to rebuild and install. I still have a bunch of work to do- all the trim boards on the corners and the rain gutters on the back and putting everything back inside that belongs inside.

So, basically, I'm just uninspired to write right now and trying to take care of business that needs my attention.

My hummers have departed-

Without so much as a "thanks for the juice" departing note, the hummingbirds that I have fed and admired all summer have packed their teeny-tiny little luggage and headed south for the warmer climes of Mexico. I took down their last feeder just a few minutes ago.

I had a much smaller population of hummers this year, just 3 and sometimes 4 regulars unlike other years when I've fed 7 or 8. But I enjoyed their comapany and antics and hope they return next year with more of their friends.

Its fall. Time for a camping trip or 2. And ski season is just a few months away!

Shop pictures!

As promised, here are some pictures of the new shop roof.

First, a reminder of what the old roof looked like:


And now the new roof-


Here's the skylights on the west side. I'm really pleased with them.


Looks good, doesn't it? I'm amazed at how much work it was to get this done.

As always, click the thumbnail pictures to see the full size images.

The roof is finished!

Hurrah! I've finished the work on the roof! The last shingle and flashing and trim piece has been installed. It looks terrific. I am so worn out from all the ladder climbing and shingle lifting, but the roof is finished nd I'm happy with it.

I still have work to do before the entire task is completed- rebuilding the closets on the outside of the shop and putting a new roof on that, installing insulation on the inside of the roof, replacing one broken 8 foot flourescent light assembly and adding a 4th light and putting everything back in its place. That will take me a few more days but the work will all be easier than the roofing work I have been doing all weekend.

Somebody asked for updated pictures and I just remembered where I left the digital camera since I set down here. So I'll get some updated pictures posted a little later on.

Now to the Village Inn for some dinner!

Shop status update-

Well after a 7 AM dental check-up and cleaning- 7 o'clock? Yes, at 7 AM this morning I was sitting in the dental chair waiting to be scraped and scoped and polished. And I got a decent bill of health in spite of my efforts.

But as soon as I got home, I was working on the shop roof and waiting for the contractor to show up. Rex is the same guy that did our floors and kitchen work earlier this year and he came over today, with his helper to help me get the job wrapped up correctly.

We switched the OSB decking on the long side so that it was aligned correctly and got it much better squared up than before. We also reused some of the old 2X6 rafters for fascia on the ends of the rafters.

Tomorrow, we are putting up the drip guards and flashings on the edges and getting the shingling started. Rex is going to get me going and help with the flashing around the skylights then leave me to finish that job by myself.

So, its getting very close. There will be finish work to accomplish inside later- insulating the ends and roof and putting up some OSB on the ends. I still need to rebuild the 2 closets that sit outside the shop and put a roof over those and the doorway. The trim boards need to be reinstalled and finally it will need to be re-stained top to bottom.

I never thought it was going to be this tough!

Just 1 reason I won't be voting for Barrack Hussein Obama this November-

In response to Skinny Dan's comment about Behemoth just below, here is just 1 of the reasons I can't (and won't) vote for Barry for president.

Oh yeah, the Behemoth is toast...

I have a Genie brand shop vac, the biggest one that Home Depot had when I finally got fed up with not having one, sometime during all the work we did on our house in Louisiana- so before 1996. This shop vac is about the height & diameter of R2D2 and made enough noise to wake a drunken Wookie.

I was using it today, cleaning up in my shop and I noticed that the sound was fluctuating just a little bit. Not too much, just a little slow down every now & then.

And then the sparks began shooting out the top of the engine vent... Smoke too!

Yikes!

I think I'm going to have to buy a new shop vac...

Best iPhone case?

I can't say if this horizontal carrying case for my new Apple iPhone is the best case there is in the world but I can tell you this- for less than $7 delivered, this case is really nice.

Its all leather, smooth inside and textured outside with a magnetic catch, very tidy stitching and a look like a much more expensive bit of gear. I am impressed and surprised and tickled to get my phone out of my pocket where I just know it was going to get scratched up.

And I love my iPhone so far too. I still have lots of things to figure out but its pretty slick!

Dear Mr. Obama-

No doubt this will offend some of my liberal readers- both of you, but it won't be the first or last time I've offended someone. This is simple, powerful and direct. Watch all of it; its worth it.

A turd afloat in the gene pool-

I didn't make that up, Cranky Lit Prof wrote it describing a scruffy, pube-chinned, glasses wearing university student who she describes as hopelessly ignorant.

She's probably right. Click the link and read the story to find out why.

Where to start?

You might guess that I'd have more time for blogging due to my current circumstances but it seems that's just not the case. In fact, I've been busier 'n hell for the past several days. So how to tell the story?

Let's see- I've had 2 job interviews that both seemed to go very well. I'm hoping for a call back on one of them in particular but could be in the running for either one. I've also applied for a job that I heard about through a friend that I expect I will get asked to interview for next week. And in spite of all the activity so far that I'm expecting to turn into an offer, tomorrow I'll dig in again to see what other possibilities I can find.

The workshop remodel continues. Noah came home again this weekend and with his help the ends of the shop have been closed in. It was only 3 pieces of paneling on each end but each piece needed to be cut to match the roof line and then screwed into place, so it was a good day's work. We also installed the 2nd skylight this morning. I did the first one by myself and that was pretty tricky so having him to assist this morning made that a much easier task.

The contractor that did our kitchen work finally made it by on Saturday afternoon to inspect our work and to see what would be required to get finished up. He had several suggestions about how to finish up the job and so he will be back later this week to assist me with some improvements and to get all the flashings installed properly. He's going to get me started on the shingling part of the job and loan me the power nail gun for the task.

It hasn't been all work this week though, there's been a little time for recreation too. Friday night the BSU and I saw Traitor, a new suspense-thriller movie that stars Don Cheadle. This is an excellent movie that will leave you scratching your head afterwards as you consider the tricky situation that Cheadle's character plays as an "off-the-books" undercover agent and the twisted thought process of the Islamic terrorists that he has aligned himself with. It really is a terrific film and it gets 2 thumbs up from my house.

Saturday night was a perfect night for baseball and the BSU and I went to see probably our last Raptors game of the season. The team made the southern division playoffs this year but they have to play the arch rivals- the Orem Owlz. The Owlz have beaten the Raptors badly this year; they've beaten every team pretty badly actually, and last night was no different. It was Owlz 5, Raptors 1 at the end of last night's game. They are playing in Orem tonight- the score's tied 5-5 right now and the Raptors will have to beat the Owlz tonight and tomorrow night if they are to go to the Pioneer League championship series later in the week. So we will see what happens but chances are my baseball spectating is done for the summer.And even though the Raptors lost night, it was a beautiful night at Lindquist Field in downtown Ogden.

Today was even more excitement, as I took Sleek Black Beuty for the longest ride yet, out to Toole and Miller Motorsports Park to spectate some vintage motorcycle racing at the Bonneville Vintage GP. It was terrific getting up close to some neat vintage racing bikes and spectating from the elevated deck above the front straightaway. There was some really great racing by guys doing it just for the fun of going fast on old and interesting motorcycles. The road trip on Sleek Black Beauty was 134 miles round trip and most of that was on the highway so I got a pretty good buffeting since the windscreen really doesn't provide much any wind protection. But it was fun and Beauty performed perfectly.

So tomorrow I'm back to job hunting and working on the shop. I've got to get the skylights taped in to seal out the water. I've also got to purchase some more flashing for the roof edges in addition to the rain drip edge that I already have and there are more tasks to accomplish before the contractor shows up to help me finish. Then I can get busy putting everything back inside and (finally) removing all the sawdust and dirt that has collected. I've been doing cleanup nearly every day and it seems that I'll never get rid of all the wood chips that have collected.

So that's it. I'm not dead, just busy and enjoying the cooler temperatures that have occurring lately. Keep your fingers crossed for me and my employment circumstances over the next few days!

Job hunting is heating up!

I got a phone call today from a buddy, his sister is a contractor on base and a job in her section just opened up this week- a job I could do happily. Jim happened to know from others that I was out of work and he recommended me, then called me and told me to get busy and fix my resume for her consideration. Of course I did! I sent it off just a little while ago.

Today's interview went pretty well, I think, and I hope I get a call back from the CEO as soon as he is back in town. That job sounds like a great challenge and opportunity.

And I have another interview tomorrow!

I told you things were heating up!

On the job front-

Interviews tomorrow and Friday... Tomorrow will be 2 weeks I've been off work.

Seems long enough.

On the job front-

Cross your fingers...

I don't want to say very much right now- I don't want to jinx anything. But today has turned out to be very productive, with an interview arranged for later this week and a phone call from someone that knows someone else, and it turns out, they both know me, who called me tonight with an exciting possibility. The person that called me doesn't want me to fill up my schedule with other interviews until she can get my resume in front of her boss!

No more details until something firms up...

Ixnay on the tolerable weather!

Thunder, lightening, dumping, heavy rains and dark clouds outside my window this AM. I should be able to get out to the shop and get at least 1 light rehung but I won't be cutting any skylight holes today!

And I might delay hanging the other 2 lights because I think they would be in the way of the skylight marking and cutting operation.

For now, I'm drinking coffee and reading my Jonathan Kellerman paperback- Compulsion.

Shop update-

Noah and I finished installing the roof panels this morning. We had 4 panels left off last night on account of darkness, so we finished the job today. And we got the open ends covered up wih plastic just minutes before the cold front arrived and the thunderstorms began.

After that, I had a shower, a coffee and read for an hour or so before setting down to watch tv with the rest of the family.

Tomorrow Noah's going to help me rehang the 8 foot light mounts before heading back towards Colorado. And if the weather is tolerable, I can install my skylights.

How I spent my Saturday-

It has been a busy Saturday. Today was the day the new trusses and roof went onto my shop. I know I talk about this shop all the time, as if its some marvelous man-cave of tool shop delights- and I do love my shop, but if you don't know, it is a rather humble workshop. The first picture tonight is what it looked like as I began tearing off the old roof. As you can see, it was a single, (much too shallow pitch) roofed shop.


Today, my buddy Loc and son Noah helped me set the new trusses. That's me with the hat and Loc trying to figure out how everything needed to be tied together. These new roofs don't come with instructions except those I could find on the internet, so it took some figuring out.



Here's the new trusses all set in place.


Everything is looking good so far.

We didn't get all the OSB sheeting up before darkness fell tonight. We did get most of the sheets up but had to quit and staple up some plastic to keep out the pending rain.

Tonight, after pasta dinner and a shower and a couple ounces of vodka and some Motrin, I'm feeling pretty good and I'm extremely pleased with today's accomplishments. We got a lot done and everything looks good.

Depending on the weather tommorrow, Noah and I should be able to finish the OSB roofing. If it rains, as the guessers are predicting, the work will have to wait. There's lots to be done still, new ends to fill in the peaks and to remove the old, angled line of the previous roof, the closets on the door end will have to be rebuilt and re-roofed, there are trim boards to be reinstalled or replaced and just a ton of things to be accomplished before my humble shop is all back to normal.

LawDog finally tells the tale

of the pink gorilla suit! With spats and a top hat!

If you don't read LawDog all the time, you really should because he writes with a style that I last encountered reading Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with the difference that you can believe LawDog's telling the truth.

He has promised to tell this tale for quite a while now and he finally spills the hilarity, so this definitely requires that you move any liquids away from your keyboard or monitoe while reading it.

This construction job is hard work!

Today I spent 7 full hours wrenching the old rafters out of the top of my shop. Actually, I spent a full hour picking up and moving the sheeting that I removed yesterday out to Leonard's trailer and I had to take 1 trip to Lowes to replace the just-bought scroll saw that quit while I was on a ladder.

But the rest of the time, I was working- most of it on a ladder, cutting and prying out the 2X6s that were nailed in through the ends between each rafter. Then I got most of the rafters pried up and I managed to get 3 of the 13 nailed on their sides in between the places the new trusses will be installed. I figured out all by myself that removing all the rafters- you know those pieces that tie together both walls of the shop might just be a bad idea. So I'm laying the removed rafters on top of the walls, in between the spaces where I removed them, and using them to hold everything together.

But its been nearly 7 hours of standing on a ladder, or moving the ladder, or cutting out the 2X6s or picking up my messes and I'm worn out- completely out!

And I'm still taking things apart... the improvements haven't even started yet!

I got all the roof off today...

Its taken a few hours and some pounding and prying and 2 showers but all the sheeting is off the roof tonite! The trusses have been delivered and are awaiting some help for me to get them slung up. I still need to get the old rafters out of the way and it will take a few hours for me to pull all those nails but things are coming along.

I got a lot of work done today!

The BSU had a follow-up appointment for her eye surgery and everything seems perfect. She was able to see the eye chart better than the Doc expected. She has a few more days before everything is back to normal and she is having some pain that the Doc prescribed her some heavy meds for. But otherwise, this is working out well.

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.