8/31/2007

Hard Work and darn little fun

This turning a beat up house into a nice home for David has turned into a lot of work. I have my brother-in-law here and we both have worked darned hard and long. Today we needed to get a couple of things done and worked way longer than we should have. I know he is wanting to go to the Pow-Wow at the lake and I'll bet he is too tired to go there tonight. Oh well, I'll give him a couple of days off and I'll bet he bounces back in good fashion.
I can tell we are on the down ward slide on getting it ready but there are a few things that have me puzzled. I'm just not sure how to finish the siding job where the bottom of the siding is just shot. Water has turned it to mush beneath the trim on the bottom of the wall. I have replaced it on the front and spliced it on the back. The ends need some help but I am pretty sure that I don't want to tear it all off and am not sure if just trimming it up will be the long term answer I am looking for. I think I'll take tomorrow off and sit on the mower for a while. I have some pretty good ideas when I can just sit and go in big circles. Oh well, I'll get some pictures up here soon and get on with my life. MUD

8/26/2007

Back to the Bike Trail

It has finally cooled off a few degrees and today after breakfast I plan to go over to the lake and hit the trails. More pictures to follow. Forgot the camera but the ride was magnificent. Seems like a lifetime since I had a chance to feel the wind in my face. I swear that bike riding takes me as near to my youth as anything I can do. We rode down the west side of the lake about three miles and came back. Nice ride and great weather. Most of the people you might find on the trail on Saturday were in church or sleeping it off in bed.
We are a little worried about my little buddy. She fell off the seat in the car and hurt her foot. That foot has been a little hurt in the past and she really favors it today. I think she likes to be carried which adds to the symptoms. Might fire up the mower and do a little mowing today. I have a 1 PM appointment to show the house. Our potential renters didn't show up last weekend like they promised. Oh well.
On the good side of the ledger, Dave and his wife Barb will be driving a newer car on Monday. They got a 2001 Malibu for a really good price. It's only money after all.
MUD

8/19/2007

Pictures of "My Little Buddy"
































Photo one is the Old Retired Fart and his buddy. Picture two is my buddy looking for the cat and trouble. It is great to have the sound of little paws thumping through the house. I thin it is funny when the birds start flapping their wings and Grissy barks to tell them to "knock it off". No matter how hot and tired I am at the end of a day it is nice to stop and pet her as she wags her tail.
MUD

8/17/2007

Took the Afternoon Off

It was so hot that after a morning of hard work we took the afternoon off. I tried to keep hydrated but it took three bottles of water at lunch and a 20 OZ Pepsi to replace the sweat. I did notice that my right hand man Putt-Putt didn't complain. He worked as hard as I did and stayed with me step by step.
The work at our new property is going well and things are looking better by the day. We do have a major job in the kitchen left and a lot of finish work but I'm sure that in the end it will all work out. I hope you are all well and surviving the heat. It will be fall soon and things will be better.
MUD

8/09/2007

Too Hot to Tango

The daytime temps are near 100 and the "Heat Index" has been in the range of 110 here in the heartland. We are able to get in about 6 hours of serious work in the AM but in the afternoon it s reduced to puttering inside the house in the shade. There is no air conditioning (yet) so it is open the windows and deal with the flies.
Morning remembrance - On about our third day in Basic Training the Senior Drill Instructor stood before us and said," Two things I hate in this world, Cruits (Recruits, new soldiers) and flies. The more I see of you Cruits the better I like those little green flies." Nothing like a rousing speech to get our blood flowing.
We have most of the junk mucked out in the trailer and are starting on painting prep. I still need to have the heating and cooling replaced. Half of the ductwork is not connected and there is no really good return air system. Can we say money boys and girls.
MUD

8/05/2007

Borne Ultimatum


Went to a great movie last night and was not left wanting. The Borne series has been one of my favorites and the third leg of this trilogy is right on. It even left the door open for Jason Borne to come back to Nexa, Missouri and resume his life. There is only one minor thing in the whole series that bothers me and that is the unsteadiness of the camera during the car chase scenes. I tend to almost get motion sickness but thank god in most of the movies I have eaten a bucket of pop corn and it is so dry there isn't any way I could puke.
Barb spent a couple hours on her feet with Barbara (Dave's Wife) and while they shopped and she stayed home. Darn!
Putt-Putt and I are taking a day off and not going out in the noon day sun. Both of us needed a day off. I felt like every thing hurt in my body and after a day off I feel 100% better.
MUD

8/04/2007

My Birthday Cigar

Once a year on or near my birthday I purchase a fine cigar and enjoy a leisurely smoke. Over the years since I stopped smoking for real, I have watched the price of a good cigar rise from a couple of dollars to "say what". A couple of years ago the cigar was $8.00 and I almost skipped the treat. This year with tax it was $12.00. I guess that is one pleasure that will probably be falling off my radar.
Things are going well at the new investment property. At least we have been investing a lot in it. The biggest difference is as we remove more and more things from the inside the smoke and stale smell is dissipating. With a little more cleaning, a good coat of paint and replacement of the curtains I expect things to be in fine shape soon. Still have a minor pesky water leak to find yet.
The temperature here in the Heartland has finally started acting like it is summer. To add to the misery, the humidity is high. It feels like Panama about 4 in the afternoon. We have had about the right amount of rain and man is the corn growing out of sight. In fact Barb was saying that we ha had about 24 inches of our normal 29 inches of rain so far this year.
One roofer I talked to about an estimate said that he has not had a good week most of the summer. Now he has to remain on site to keep the guys from spending the afternoon hanging around the water cooler. I can't imagine being on the roof after about 11 AM in this heat.
Today is the Saturday that you can turn in Chemicals to the County at no cost. I have about 2/3rds of the pickup bed full of half empty cans of things unknown. The guy we purchased the house from was a Terrazzo worker and he had a house full of strange chemicals. There is one shed that I haven't even really gone into and it has probably another pickup bed full of strange things that hardens or does things to other chemicals .
It has been nice to have my brother-in-law, Putt-Putt, here to talk to. I can bounce ideas off him and discuss what options to take on the house. It was funny yesterday he and Dave were talking about a light fixture he wife had said "needs to go". Putt-Putt has been working the electricity issues and replacing switches and outlets. When they looked at the ugly ceiling fixture they couldn't see any switch that would make it work. Our test bulb did not work so they really began to look for the problem. When the four screws that held it up were loosened, it came down completely. There never was any wire connecting the light to anything. Problem solved.
Oh well, I could go on for days about the things we have found and the minor problems we are encountering. Should be a fun summer and fall.
MUD

8/01/2007

If I had known I was going to live this long, I'd taken better care of myself!

Today opens a new door for me. I am officially on the Retired List from a 30 year Military Career and will finally start drawing my Retired Military retirement. This starts on my 60th birthday and will pay out until Barb is no longer alive. That will be a long time unless stupidity steps in and something bad happens.
The work at the new house is going well and it is so nice to have Barb's brother Kenny here to help and discuss things with. I get to spend a few minutes each day petting his dog Grissy and that's a bonus. There is just something about petting a dog that puts a smile on your face and in your heart.
Talk about your great birthday presents, I got a call from the Reimers in Morocco. They sang Happy Birthday in English and Arabic. When I asked Kendra if she was going to a French School this fall she said We We (it might be Wi Wi but spell checker doesn't know French any better than I do) Their giggles were a light in my life and it was great to hear from them. They gave me some info on a program that will allow us to call them cheap and we could hook up and see them on our computer.
Better get off here so I can go eat cake and watermelon. Bonus dude!
MUD