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