Vacation Wrap-up

 I still have the weekend but my vacation is essentially over.  All my vacation projects have been completed and I find myself today a bit bored.  I went for a drive, grabbed some food at a drive-through and parked by a lake to eat.  Then I went to a small mom and pop style tavern only to find it strangely closed, so I just came back home.  It's a beautiful day out, but I'm a bit sore so will wait for my wife to finish her workday then we can take a nice walk.

I'm glad I did the power washing early due to the rains that came after and the drying time needed before sealing the back steps.  I was mostly idle on Sunday and Monday due to that rain, and we did get some water in the basement for the first time in a couple years.  We didn't pick up the rugs in time so some got a bit wet, but as of yesterday everything was dry again and back to normal.  I had put the trail camera down there to see if the cats use the walkway so they don't have to step on the floor but it failed to capture the cats over several days but for a couple times when they walked right up to the camera.  Not sure why, and I don't see anything in the settings to fix that.  I may have to try again later from a different angle, but now I have the trail camera back outside on the fence by the wood rack facing the gardens.  I found poop back there again and want to find out what is doing that.

On Tuesday I edged all our concrete.  It had been a few years since I did it last and it was due.  I think a combination of the concrete sinking over the years and the sod rising from mulched grass has caused the front grass to be quite higher than the walk.  And I don't believe I've ever edged the curb side of the terrace before but you can see how much it was covering the curb.  It took about 16 five gallon buckets over 3 trips to the dump as it was just too much sod to compost here.  It was a bit of work, but it is very satisfying to see it all cleaned up and several inches of space reclaimed.

Wednesday was spent sealing the driveway seams in front of the garage.  I think water gets under it and when it freezes in the winter it makes one corner of a slab rise in front of the garage so hopefully this will help.  More of these seams will need to be redone in the future but I'll be looking into a different method.  I just did this area again to use up the crack filler left over from several years ago.  Other than that, just a few errands, can't remember what else so probably nothing.

By Thursday the wooden steps were dry enough to get sealed.  It was supposed to be mostly or partly cloudy out, perfect for the job, but I wanted to get an early start but not too early for the morning dew to evaporate.  Well, I overslept a bit so got a late morning start, then the water sealer I had must have been old as it had a cottage cheese consistency.  So I ran out to get more and in my haste got a slightly different version than I've used before - and learned that 'clear' and 'transparent' are two very different things.  I accepted my mistake and forged ahead, and it turns out it made the steps look pretty good.  Before the wood was a light gray but now, well, what do you think?  I'm calling it a happy accident.

So, back to today.  I guess today is turning out to be a pretty lazy day for me, and that's okay.  Soon here my wife and I will go on probably a 30 minute walk.  Later we're having Italian beef sandwiches for dinner (that's been smelling really good in the slow cooker all day!) but just a quiet night in.  Tomorrow we have a few things lined up but other than that I think I'm done with my vacation chore list and will just relax and try not to think about the shitstorm that I know will be waiting for me on Monday morning.

Walnut count:  My yard ~460, Dave's yard ~1320.  I expected these numbers to be higher by now, but we're not done yet.

284-7624 and Nuts!

Cheers to everyone who can remember their childhood phone number!  I can remember this from very young when living in the 3rd house I remember growing up in, in Illinois.

There was a white house we lived in the upstairs, I believe - my first memory of a place I lived.  Then a pink house on a street called Steinman, small and one story with a separate garage and shared driveway.  Then a red house on the corner of Jefferson Avenue (1135 - still remember the street number, too) and another street, two stories with a big yard, huge willow tree, and a tire swing.  I think we moved there about 1973, so I was about 5 or 6 years old.  This is the house that I remember most and we had that phone number until we moved to Wisconsin. 

It was a party line when we first had the phone there, meaning the whole street shared the same phone line.  You could pick up the phone and hear a neighbor on a call so have to wait your turn.  I don't remember the party line lasting long, and then we had our own line and this was the number.  It was taught to me at that young age just in case I was abducted or, much more likely, gotten lost as an oblivious child sometimes will.  I've now remembered a phone number I've not had for about 44 years, yet I can forget why I entered a room a minute ago.

*          *          *

I found the above as an old draft from last year and figured why waste mediocre writing?  I just cleaned it up a bit and here it is.  I sat down this afternoon after work to write about the creek thing I did on Saturday morning and got distracted with finding that and another idea I had more recently, below, so I'll write about the creek monitoring later in the week.

*          *          *

The other day I cleaned up some downed live branches from one of neighbor Dave's three black walnut trees in his back yard.  At the time I noticed the walnuts were pretty much full size already, and I have a feeling this year is going to be a bumper crop, so I decided to keep a running total of the number of walnuts I pick up with my grabber and send to the corner behind the lilac.  I've done this before, informally, both daily and cumulatively one year but gave up at about a thousand.  This time I'll note the counts in my garage notebook and update the total here whenever I post.  As the count goes up, remember, these are just from my small yard, next to the yard with the walnut trees.  I'd imagine Dave gets at least 5 times as many as I'll get, and probably more.

And before you ask, no, I do not try to save them, shell them, dry them, crack and eat them.  I leave that for the squirrels, they don't seem to mind fattening up on them.

Walnut Count:  22

This Week, In Pictures (Mostly)

I don't think I have many words to say, but I'm sure I'll think of something.  I do have several pictures of our area from this past week that I'd like to share.

This is what's left of the potted plants on the stump, and it doesn't look too bad.  The rest had been ravaged by the rabbits.  Not pictured here are the flower pot out front and petunias on the back steps.  The only thing left out front was a green stalk of a yellow marigold that was still trying to live, everything else was devoured.  I moved a couple petunias out front and surrounded the pot with chicken wire and they seem to be doing well.

For the sake of keeping the home page tidy, see the rest after the break!

August This-And-Thats

Things have settled in to late summer around here.  Flowers are past their peak, football is starting and I've not been posting much of anything recently.  These are the times this kind of post is made for - with a twist this time.  This will be a more visual This-And-Thats than just a normal bullet-points rundown of different thoughts.  Just a few things I've been up to, so, with that, let's get on with it, shall we?

• I found the spider that had been making the massive webs between the garage and the porch.  After that picture in the last post we saw him working on another web, pictured here.  And the other day I happened upon his lair when cleaning up, so he had to go.

• A few weeks ago there was guano under our bat house behind the garage.  Our first sign of a bat using it since it was installed.  There's been none since, unfortunately, but I am encouraged as we are seeing more bats and more often this year than last in the evening skies.  This is a short video from Friday night by the fire showing some bat activity in the area - with an appearance from a plane taking off, of course.

• Yesterday I finished the edging of the walks out front.  Now, I know it's been a few years since I've done it, but the sod had already crept several inches over the pavement again.  It doesn't help that the walks in this older neighborhood are generally lower than the turf, especially for us.  Still, it was very gratifying to clean it up, even if it won't last forever.

• While taking pictures of the edging I took an inadvertent picture of the house.  This reminds me that I trimmed the arborvitae last weekend, and also swapped out the front light bulb.  The arborvitae has grown quite a bit in the last 10 years, and while I think it's kind of a pain to have I do like that it gives some character to the front of the house.  My (OCD) fear is that as it grows bigger it will get harder to keep looking good.  And for the light I got one that is LED and is supposed to not attract bugs, but what I really liked about it is that it has a sensor so it turns on and off at dusk and dawn by itself.  As for the bugs, it does appear there is less bug clutter on the front of the house now, but time will tell.

• August 20 will be one year since the great deluge of rain that gave Madison and western Dane County, especially Black Earth, all sorts of flooding issues.  The Yahara chain of lakes is finally closer to "normal" levels - except Waubesa - and still way too high for all, but that's where they've been kept for several years now.  If we receive any sort of deluge like last year the same thing would happen again.  I do know there are plans being made to help prevent all that rainwater being diverted straight to the lakes, and other plans like dredging to ease the flow of the Yahara River between the lakes.   Link for below screen capture is here.  Interesting article here, I've read it once quickly so I should re-read it soon.

I think that's more than enough for now, I've had my say.  Thanks for reading, see you soon.

Brothers With Badgers

Recently my wife was given company tickets to a Wisconsin Men's Basketball game.  She's not a sports fan so asked me if I wanted to take a friend.  Given the proximity to my brother's birthday I invited him to go to the game on Saturday.  Now, I've been to the Kohl Center several times for hockey games and concerts, but not recently and I've never been for a basketball game.  My brother got to town and we decided to head there right away and I'm glad we did as I underestimated the traffic caused by the game.  We got there early, but not too early and got to walk around a bit before settling into our seats to watch the players warm up before the game.

It was a good game and the Badgers won their third game in a row.  The most notable part of the game was that Ethan Happ had his second triple-double of the season (13 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) and only the third triple-double in the long history of Wisconsin basketball.  Happ, a senior, is the star of the team and will be playing professionally next year.  He's a great college player but the only things that bother me about his game is his inefficiency at the free throw line - he was 1 of 5 this game - and I think he relies too much on the hook shot.  That shot has made his college career a great one but it will be interesting to see how that translates to the NBA game in the coming years.

 It was just above zero degrees that afternoon and when we left the game it was snowing quite a bit.  Also, unbeknownst to me until we were going to the game, we would be bringing back my nephew and his friend from the game.  Luckily we got there early and my brother called the other parents and they were able to park in the same ramp we were in, or finding the kids after the game may have been quite a bit more difficult.  But I did enjoy briefly seeing the nephew, growing so fast the next time he may be taller than me!  After the game I was already out of my comfort zone hanging out with 17,000 other people and then having to drive in slick conditions in heavy traffic while trying to make conversation on the way back was a bit stressful, but we made it okay.  And then they made it back home safely, thankfully.

I do care for my brother but we are definitely two different people on two very different paths.  Much of that is my wife and I chose to not have kids and they've gone the family path, and like most families these days, it sounds like they are always running from one kid's event to the other's, day after week after year.  There's nothing wrong with how either of us chooses to live, it's just very different.  Still, this was one of the few times ever I got to spend a little one on one time with my brother and I'm grateful he accepted my invitation.

Of course, now that I've been to a basketball game I don't feel the need to do it again anytime soon.  There's the people, the traffic, and the time it all takes.  A two hour game is like a six hour commitment,  much of it sitting in traffic.  I can watch the games on TV and see what's happening much easier and without all that added stress.  So, I can scratch this off my list for now and if I do get another opportunity I will know better what to expect and be able to plan accordingly.



Of course I took pictures - after the break!

Firewood!

As of today I have enough firewood to last us for quite some time.  I've said earlier that the wood I scavenged won't be near enough with this new fire pit, so I looked online to buy some firewood in bulk rather than piecemeal and save some time, money and worry.  I'll still scavenge the downed limbs I see on the curbs when convenient but having enough on hand is comforting.  First of all, I planned ahead and ordered a rack for the firewood that arrived last week, assembled it last weekend (it can be glimpsed empty over at the last garden blog entry), and have it placed along the fence line near the fire pit, both for convenience and it was only one of two places seriously considered for the rack.

I found several places in my search for firewood, most similarly priced, but settled on this one.  I contacted them and ordered a face cord, 4' x 8' x 16" of stacked and split wood, 1/3 of a full cord.  It cost 159 dollars for kiln-dried mixed hardwoods, and it was delivered today while I was at work.  It took my wife and I the better part of an hour, but we got it all stacked, stored, and swept up.  The rack is 4' x 8' but the bottom is off the ground quite a bit so it wouldn't hold all the wood.  You can see some placed to the left that will be used up first, and also about the same amount as that in the garage with the other fire wood.  I also bought a 17" splitting axe to make bigger pieces smaller.  Yes, for firewood I'm all in at about 280 bucks for the wood, rack and axe.  The fire pit is about 170 bucks all in with accessories.  Um, maybe I shouldn't think of the money.

But it was very worth it for me, with my wife's support, to not worry about how much I'm burning or having to pick up smaller, more expensive bundles of wood for the rest of the year.  From what I scavenged last year I have enough for probably 2 conservative fires, now it's a worry I don't have and won't for some time.  Plus, just the enjoyment and how much more often and easily we can relax around a back yard fire pit is priceless.

Come on over.  Sit by the fire.  Let's talk awhile.  It usually ends up pretty okay!

Over 2 Days Offline - I'm Back!

I'm back!  Boy, I hate to say it, but I depend on the internet more than ever.  Wednesday I was off work for a medical procedure (befitting my latest age milestone), and that afternoon I had internet one minute and not the next.  After calling the ISP, they could see we could send and receive but there was no internet there for us.  Tonight a couple technicians came out, and after replacing some cables, connections and splitters, and also doing the same on the pole outside (seen here), we have internet back.  They don't even know what fixed it, but it's working again and I'm happy.

When I was young I used to know the television schedule for all 3 channels and what I liked every night of the week.  These days I read and watch what I choose on the internet and mostly use the television for news in the mornings, sports events, and just for background noise.  Plus, we have the living room lights, Petcube and Alexa gadgets that we use - all dependent on the internet and wifi.  We've had our phones, but it isn't nearly the same and uses up data, so it's good to be back in the 21st century!

Another thing to note, my wood rack arrived today.  I bought an 8' by 4' rack to hold a face cord of split firewood.  I have to put it together and plan on placing it between the lilac area and the tree stump area along the fence line by neighbor Dave.  Once complete, I will order a face cord of mixed hardwoods from a place I found for 150 bucks, delivered.  I still plan on scavenging wood to burn, and have already done so, but buying some firewood will make that urgency much less and we can have a fire, big or small, whenever we like without worrying about running out of wood or overpaying for small bundles at convenience stores.  This will just make for more relaxed and better fire pits, and that is just as it should be.  But not tonight, after the hottest day of the year so far!

Spring This Year?

Well, I bitched enough about the snowy and cold weather lately that I feel I need to follow up.  Not for the locals, you Wisconsinites are aware and may disregard and skip ahead.  This is for the others, my friends that are not from here.  And for me and my OCD tendencies.

On Sunday, Madison reached 63ºF, the first over 60ºF day since Dec 4, I learned that date from an article couple weeks ago.  Out of laziness I will not be citing sources, this is just our observations.  On Sunday when I asked Alexa how many days since December 4, 2017, it counted 140 days, my wife heard 138 days later on some news.  Either way that's a very long stretch, even for Wisconsin.

Yesterday, Monday, we hit 68ºF.  A local news station reported this morning that this was our warmest temperature in over 6 months.  Even I have to pause to let that sink in.  .  .


We're not headed straight into summer, at least.  The upcoming 10-day forecast has ups and downs from the 60ºF's and 70ºF's, though the next couple days may fall a bit short of that.

I must say, it is very nice to have the windows open again.  The cats seem to agree.

1000 Posts!

Dear Madison (Food Place)

I wrote and sent this last night:

26 July 2017

(Food Place),

We have been very good customers for a long time, I know you have access to my orders to see this.  Tonight we placed an order that included the Cookies and Cream ice cream, and we are very disappointed.

Well after enjoying our (Food Place Item) and (Food Place Item), we went to have some of that ice cream. At that time we noticed there was no plastic safety seal and when we opened it we saw several large spoonfuls missing, and it had frost on it like it had since been in the freezer for some time.

When I called to let you know, I was first given the option of a 6 dollar credit or replacement.  I chose the credit.  After a few moments of silence I was told I would be given a 3 dollar credit.  I disagreed.  I was again given the option of replacement so obviously chose it to be redelivered.

A few minutes after that call I missed a call from the same person requesting the one that was delivered be returned.  By now his disbelieving tone was very obvious.  I called back but he deftly didn't care to listen, I gave up, the replacement ice cream was on it's way.

And shortly, the replacement was delivered.  No problems there, the delivery driver was awesome, most all of them are.  He seemed confused about taking the other one back, so I explained.  It was only later I noticed that the replacement ice cream was Chocolate, definitely not the flavor I originally ordered.  Not that they would know, but I do not care for Chocolate ice cream.

In a situation where a mistake or defective product has to be replaced and the replacement is also incorrect, well, that would be gross incompetence or, I suspect, purposeful negligence.  I'm not innocent, we should better inspect what we get on delivery - even though we've found you trustworthy for years.  Our bad.  But your people don't have to be defensive, suspicious and spiteful when their mistakes or tampered products are pointed out.

We love your food and would like to keep it that way.

Sc(oakat)
(They have my contact and account information from the form I completed to send this.)


I was out on my bike today when I received a call.  I pulled over and listened to the message, it was the manager of the food place above.  Several hours later (post coming soon on the time otherwise spent here) I returned his call.   Without going into detail, we have a 20 dollar credit coming and an apology.  The manager may have over-shared when talking to me, and I told him that we totally understood.   An employee 'buys' ice cream but doesn't set it aside so the delivery driver grabs it innocently.  A manager trainee reacts like he shouldn't, then tried to kind of cover his tracks.  I don't want anyone to lose their job, and I told this manager that it was more insulting than offensive.  We are long time customers, and he could see and appreciate that.  So, all's well that ends well.

I had composed this exact feedback to them here before pasting into their corporate contact page.  I was ready to call them out.  My talk with this manager was good and he had gotten this message about my email first thing today, he said.  He was actually nice, even likable, and kissed my ass well.  What it comes down to is we have an apology and a credit toward the next order or two.  I'm happy enough!

Happy Blogday To Me!

I almost forgot, this is my Blogday!  I've been doing this for eight f**king years!   Wow.

Edit 4/11, added new 8 pic.

That's a long time to keep something up that is as personal as it is public.  I've had friends and family that care, friends and family that don't, friends and family that sign up to get emails when I post but then I rarely or never hear anything back from them.  I know blogger ain't farcebook, tweeter, linkden or Instagrat.  I don't care.  I don't want more accounts or social media so I know I don't make it easy to be my friend that way.  I just like having my own little corner of the internet here that I can say and post (almost) whatever I wish.  Just - and sometimes mostly - for me.  An online journal, or a diary, of sorts.  I appreciate those that come along for the ride and I also appreciate the new friends I've made along the way.

Blogging is always a bit of work in progress.  The other day I tweaked my template and lost my lists in the right column.  This is the second time I lost my lists, I can't remember if I was messing with my template last time.  I will build them again, but it may be later tonight, tomorrow or even next week.  Whenever I feel I have the time and gumption to get it done.

I don't want this to take away from my post earlier this evening - we got bikes!  Scroll down or click here to read all about that!  And Happy Blogday to me!

Relative Humidity

Today was chilly, but refreshingly sunny out, and the high winds (gusts of 40-50+ miles per hour) of the last several days finally calmed.  By the time I got home from work today the sun had warmed the porch enough again so that the cats really wanted out there.  They always want out these days when the sun is out because they know it can get even warmer than the house.  The porch does face south and the sun is starting to get higher in the sky and warmer, surely spring is coming!  I let them have access for, oh, maybe 90 minutes or so until the sunbeams left us.  My wife was home by then and they were inside, anyway.

When I went to shut the door I saw something I had never seen before.  Well, not like this.  The porch windows had condensation on the inside.  It was 24ºF (about -4ºC) outside the single pane cheap porch windows and 72ºF (about  24ºC) inside the house, the porch felt similar when I let them out, slightly cooler when I went to shut it.  The humidity outside, according to my weather app, was 24%, while inside I got a reading of 43% relative indoor humidity from the humidifier controller on the air return vents downstairs, and a reading of 37% upstairs in the computer room off the porch.  That's a lot of numbers.  I found it interesting to check for those numbers when I saw the effect.  Like I said, I have never seen this before.  I've seen the condensation on the outside, making it look similar, but never the inside.

The humidifier we had installed just after the beginning of the year has been a very good investment for our cold, dry, winter air.  The best part is that we never have to think about it.  No constantly filling up the tank, changing expensive filters every 10 days, no dripping water on the floor.  No muss, no fuss.  Twice a year I have to move the damper from 'summer' to 'winter' or back, and once a year change the water pad.  I think we made a very good investment, indeed.

Other than that, all has been well enough, I guess.  I have a few things I could mention, but I should have time this weekend that I may post another This-And-Thats.  Outside, there's no snow around, really, and just a few inches in the forecast for Monday.  Now if we can just get temperatures to stay above freezing...  I mean, really, there's already plants coming up!

LLP Bonus - Amaranthe and Pain

I may have to rethink this format.  I'd like to post these Latest Listening Pleasure posts more often ( the last was in April?!) but eventually it would be most of the same bands every time they release a new album.  Thus the LLP Bonus posts, like this one.  Although I'm constantly scanning the internet for new bands and new albums that I find appealing I need to really get into the music to write one of these posts.  I don't want another one like LLP 7 - Paramore where I really dug the single then later I hear the whole album and absolutely hate it.  Now, I've found a newer band that I want to write a LLP post about but first I need to acknowledge two favorites that I've been listening to a lot lately.  Both have recent releases and both have already been a featured LLP band.

Amaranthe's new album, 'Maximalism,' is much like their last and I am still enjoying their 3-singer sound.  The first single, That Song, is a standard rock anthem and I recognized it as such immediately.  Still, I found myself singing along and loving it.  This album goes deeper than the last with better songs but is still front-loaded like the last CD.  Below is the official video, but there is a great, simpler version from a record store appearance here.

Amaranthe - That Song



Peter Tagtgren's Pain has been a favorite of mine for a long time.  His new album, 'Coming Home,' has been eagerly anticipated as his last Pain album was in 2011.  Since then he has released a Hypocrisy album and the Lindemann album with Till Lindemann from Rammstein, as well as producing other bands.  Now, with his 17 year old son, Sebastian, filling in on drums, he is out touring again.  (Till even joined him for a Lindemann song, first time live!)  Besides the title track below, just released on New Year's Day, you can find all the other new Pain videos here.  Wannabe is a real good one, too.

Pain - Coming Home



There, now that I have these posted I can start on the next official LLP post.  No hints on who it is!  You probably wouldn't know the name even if I told you.  It will be posted when it gets posted...

Birthdays, Vacations, and Moms

Yeah.  Birthday.  Here we go again - wait, what?  Terry is having a bash out at a place with a bar and big TVs for the first Packer game to celebrate her birthday - on my birthday - and I'm included for nothing?

No brainer, right?  Well for me it wasn't so simple, and went from possibly scary and/or embarrassing to a perfect, fun birthday for me.  See, I was first presented with the idea on one of our outings on the boat, it was one of those things where everybody looks at you and says, 'right?' and so you just say 'okay, right,' without being able to think about it much.  First of all, it was to be on the day of the first regular season Packer game.  Second, it was on my actual birth day.  And third, it was at the beginning of my long needed vacation.  I had plans, kinda (hint: this is why OCD is a label on this post).  Certainly not great plans, but still, I do what I do on Packer Sundays (-and noon, Sunday Packer games are prime viewing but becoming less and less common.)  So I went with it at the time.  Later when I was thinking about it more and having a rather fruitless - for me - discussion about it with my wife, it was settled - I was going to someone else's birthday party on my birthday.  Not an accurate way to state it, but the funniest!

It turned out to be a great private room at a local place with our own bar, bartender and buffet.  Not to mention the one huge projection and two big screen TVs to show the Packer game.  We didn't have near enough friends show up to fill the room but plenty of friends were there to have fun with and we were able to spread out as necessary.  Of course, Terry included me in everything even though she planned and paid.  I was very happy for the friends that showed up, all our mutual friends and through Terry and even a few of my own friends were nice enough to show up - and bearing gifts!  Thank you all, and many thanks to Terry, this was a pretty good day!  And the Packers won!

Of course, I guess I was having such a good time still after the game that we stopped off at a local tavern for a few, and then I guess I had even more at home.  The problem with day drinking is night doesn't tell me when to stop, I guess.  I paid for it Monday, like I haven't in years.  I did get the few things done that day that were required, but otherwise I was bottle-flu-boy all day.  Eh, you live, you learn, then you forget and learn again.

Vacation.  As I said, I am on vacation this week.  Thank goodness because I never would have made it to work on Monday (see above).  I like to have one big, main project on my staycation vacations, in addition to a list of smaller things to complete.  This year my main project has been a reset, of sorts, of my workbench area in the garage.  I was going to post about that here and now, but that is worth it's own post, maybe tomorrow, but if I state that it usually takes a few days it seems.

It was supposed to be started on Monday, well, that never happened.  So much of Tuesday and the first part of today went into the garage.  And the thing about tearing up the workbench area to redo it is that once everything was deconstructed I had no idea where the tool was that I needed when I needed it.  I found my way eventually.  Anyway, more to come on that.  Now...

I love my Mom, and I know she loves me, and us.  And the internet.  Thank you for stopping by, Mom, and at 49 years old now but at the risk of sounding like a selfish teenager that gets embarrassed by their parents:  Gawd, Ma, this isn't facebook!  I know you love us, thank you for stopping saying it in every single comment recently, but now you're commenting on almost every effing post.  Back off!  When I need a president for my fan club I'll let you know.  Gawd!

Seriously, I love you but I feel your presence has been great recently.  You texted me, sent a card, and commented for my birthday before I could write about it.  My name is not even on this site, on purpose, let alone my details.  And if the only comments I get now are from my mom I need to seriously rethink doing things here.  Please call me, it would seem we need to get together soon.

Sigh.  Am I a bad son?  Happy Birthday to me.  Gawd!

New Roof!

2009

We had a new roof put on the house and garage recently.  Not terribly exciting for anyone but us, but I did enjoy taking almost one hundred pictures of the process.  No, I won't ask you to look at them all.  But I did want to post a couple pictures going back to when we bought the house.

First picture is the house as it was when we bought it.  Our little, bland, white house.

Late 2013

This next picture is after we had the windows installed in November, 2013.  The new windows, aside from being so much more efficient than the original windows, look so much better.  Inside, the fake wood grain finish blends right in with the original trim, and outside we had black flashing installed around the windows to make them pop a little.  We think it worked out rather well.

Today, 2016

Finally, the third picture is our house now, after the new roof and gutters but before the power company removed the electrical wire protection, top left, that they put on when the permit was pulled.  No, you can't really see the roof, but it looks like any other new roof.  We got ours in black onyx in keeping with the black and white theme.  We also repainted the foundation and front railings since the second picture, 'black as Swedish death metal,' as the paint mixer at the store put it.  We also changed out the front door light and added new, black, more visible house numbers.  And, among other things, we still want a new screen door for the front, and perhaps a new mailbox - black, of course.

The only real difference that you can see in this last picture is in the drip edge along the roof line.  We have no overhang so I came up with the idea of making the drip edge black on the front and back gable ends of the house to give the roof more definition, and we are very pleased with the result.  Even the roofing crew that installed it was impressed that I came up with it.  One even told me he wishes more homeowners did something like this.  The black edge does exactly as I intended, and with the twin peaks out front it looks very good, indeed.

A good, straight on picture is after the break:

Early 'Thanksmas'*

My Dad and his wife Pat had a gathering yesterday that they were calling Thanksmas.  They will be leaving for Florida at the end of the month and wanted to share the holidays with their families.  For some reason I felt we should go, my first mistake.  I don't like the holidays.  I don't like to travel.  Hell, I don't even really like my Dad, and I'm more like him than I want to admit.  But I felt we should go because he has had heart trouble this year and he'll be the first to remind you that he's not getting any younger.  Oh, and their Thanksmas celebration was happening during a Packers game, just to add to my personal anxieties.  I call them 'anxieties,' they have also been referred to as 'selfishness.'  Either way I'm not proud of my actions sometimes.

So, fine then, a couple weeks ago I resolved to myself that we would go and agreed to be there.  My plan was to show up shortly before the game, watch the game and socialize with them, and leave immediately following the game.  Over an hour travel each way, but we should get home just before dark.  Perfect, in my mind.  Plenty of time to relax at home on a Sunday night before facing another work week.  Besides, how christmas-y can you get in the middle of November unless you are a retail store?  I was about to find out.  Oh, I stuck to my plan, but, of course, it did not turn out well.

Most of their combined kids and their families were there.  I didn't know all the names, and I didn't really care.  The 'step' siblings became such long after I was an adult out on my own and I have really only met them a handful of times.  My niece was cute, she made it more fun for me by making me play bean bag toss with her before the game then trying to figure out the password and play the games on my phone.  It was a beautiful sunny day, this Ides of November, with temperatures getting up to 60º.  And I was sitting near a christmas tree watching the Packers lose two weeks before Thanksgiving.  I was feeling out of my element, but there was the finish line - the end of the game, which was drawn-out, of course.

When the game ended I said thanks and gotta go but it was not that easy.  I had explained earlier that we had things to do and I wanted to be home by dark, back to my plan.  So after the game I got up to go.  My wife became hugely embarrassed with Pat protesting and me saying hey, that was my plan all along.  We had to stand there awkwardly in front of everyone as she fumbled looking for christmas presents to give us before we left.  At that point I don't look good leaving or agreeing to stay for their games and gift openings.  My intention was not to get gifts in the middle of November or upset my Dad's wife, just leave.  But then I just wanted to disappear myself, I can't blame my wife for being upset with me, my time here was done and I wanted to go.

See, I've always been more comfortable at home.  And similar things have happened to me before.  I explained it to my sister once as having an elastic band attaching me to home.  The farther away and longer I'm gone the more uncomfortable I am.  Especially when it is for - and it usually is - for a holiday gathering.  I stopped liking holidays after, and in some ways because of, my childhood.  We always had to travel then, too.  I guess it all eventually goes back to childhood, right?  I'm the first to admit that I still hold deep resentment from back then that I am trying to ignore now.  I think I've done well with that lately but it is still there and always will be.  Life goes on.

So, am I selfish?  Do I have OCD with anxieties?  A form of agoraphobia?  Or am I just an ass?

Don't answer, I don't want to hear it.  But it's probably some form of all of them to one degree or another.

The agoraphobia thing, suggested by my wife that night, actually hits pretty close to home.  That would also explain why I get so buggy at huge events with thousands of people, too.  I know I've talked about that here before.  Still, I do not have panic attacks, though I do have plenty of anxieties.  So maybe I'm just a nut who needs to be on medication to take the ab from my normal.  I think I should probably look into this more.  But from right here, thank you.


*Updated next day:
One thing I feel was lost in my writing - and editing - is that I do need to offer my apologies to all involved who took offense.  Reading sentences 3 to 7 of the first paragraph and looking back, I feel like I set myself up to fail.  I'm also sorry for that and I'm sorry it happened.  
Okay, enough dirty laundry!  But writing it out did help me consider things more.  Many things.

July This and Thats

Happy July!  I hope everyone enjoyed their 3 day weekend, here in the states anyway.  I've been feeling like I should post lately but there is nothing big to write about.  So this is another one of those start-typing-and-see-what-comes-out posts.

• We had no plans for this holiday weekend other that some projects around the house.  Things did come up, like my sister in law wanting to see her dad so she calls my wife to fetch him for her for a visit.  We see him a lot, if she wants to see him she should go get him herself, I think.  Also, Kate helped her friend, Terry, clean up her boat - not go out on the lake, just clean it up while it is docked at the marina.  It has got to be a sin to own a nice pontoon boat, pay to store it on the water, and rarely, if ever, use it.  Sigh.
• My plans for this holiday weekend were to cross things off my list, and I did pretty good.  I got the garage power-washed, also cleaned some foundation which we got painted yesterday morning.  It looks a whole lot better and the fresh black matches the windows better.  Now only 3 more sides of the house to go!  I also got some sidewalk edging done, put gutter covers on the porch (free after rebate!), mowed, removed more irises, and later today I want to fertilize the lawn since rain is expected tomorrow evening.  Aside from fertilizing, I am now done for the weekend.  My feet hurt.  A lot.
• I've talked about getting bicycles, but we have not yet.  I still want to because I feel we would use them more often to get out to local places that we like to visit.  But in actuality that would probably be once a week in the summer time.  It would be nice but not the highest priority when we think about it.  Meanwhile, I have started getting on the exercise bike downstairs 3 times a week to start trying to get into better shape.  There's a great ice cream shop that opened last year that is less than a ten minute bike ride away, only 15-20 minutes away walking but we just never seem to do.
• Not just bikes, everything costs money and it seems like we have been hemorrhaging money lately.  Not even counting having the tree removed and buying a new vehicle.  Just purchases for house projects, cds and dvds, concert tickets, and the like.  On the bright side my wife received a long overdue promotion at work that will help.  Congrats, Kate, you've deserved this for a long time!
• Speaking of concert tickets, we recently got tickets for Garbage's upcoming tour.  It is the 20th anniversary of their debut, self-titled album and they will be playing it in its entirety on this tour.  Garbage started here in Madison and we do like to claim them as our own, though none live here anymore.  Also, Nightwish has announced their 2016 American tour and it includes a stop at the Rave in Milwaukee.  I may never get the chance again, I have to go.  The Garbage show is not until October and the Nightwish show is not until next year February.  They are both quite a ways off but I didn't care, I will be there and wanted my tickets now.  
• I broke one of my commenting rules recently when I commented on Delcatto's blog about his weather.  My personal rule is that if I only discuss me in my comment not to post it, but I did.  He wrote about the heat there and my comment was how we had not turned on the air conditioning here yet despite it being July already.  It has been very nice to have the windows open for this long.  We've been tempted to run the A/C a few times, but have not.  I was even tempted earlier today, but if I look at the next few days it cools off and we would want the windows open again.  I will not start it for one hot day, but if I see a stretch coming I won't hesitate.
• The 30th reunion of the people I went to high school with happens this year, and soon.  I have to decide in the next, like, day if we will be going.  I have not been to any of my previous class reunions.  I did not grow up with them, moving to town for 7th grade.  I had few friends and got picked on a lot.  I was the first in my class to get my ear pierced, I got picked on a lot for that my junior year.  When I came back for my senior year most of those that picked on me had their own ear pierced.  I hated them for that.  I know I was an awkward, stupid teenager and so were they as the jocks, cheerleaders, and geeks that they were.  There are exactly 2 friends that I would absolutely love to see, out of about 100-150 classmates (I forget).  I am certain there would be some others I would enjoy seeing, as well as others that I wouldn't.  But it's been 30 years now.  Do I care?  Do I go?

That's enough for now, more than I thought I had to say so I'm glad I did another This And Thats post.  There's something to be said for just sitting and typing and seeing what happens.  I'm not even a writer, I just pretend to be one on the internet.  PTFO

Short Break

I've decided to take advantage of the time I have spent away from this site for a bit longer.  I am going to take a short break from blogging for the rest of the year.  I may still post something for the holidays or if something comes along that I feel the need to say or post then I will, but until 2015 there will be no regular updates.  I've been doing this very regularly for over 5 years now and I want to get away from that feeling that I have to post something - sometimes anything - unless the urge hits me.

I may not have actual OCD - most people who say they do really do not have the obsessiveness of the real disorder - but I definitely do have OCD tendencies and I always have.  In fact, I used to be much more obsessive-compulsive than I am now.  This break is to help me make some changes in my day to day life.  I want to stop needing to check a list of websites daily, needing to post at least 7 times a month (I always have), needing to keep current on all my (soon to be fewer) favorite podcasts, and spend more time with my wife, read more books that I'm interested in and even work on more household chores and projects (but don't tell my wife I said that!).  This is a lofty goal for myself, I know, but I should think about it kind of like a head start on a New Year's resolution.

So I may not be posting much in the near future, but I will be around the 'net and even stop back here occasionally.  When I return I hope to be less anxious about everything and a little bit more in control.

Try not to mess the place up too much while I'm out, huh?

Happy Holidays,

Scoakat

P.S.  I feel better already just making this decision!

Garage Storage Project

There was a sale on lumber a couple weeks ago so got my friend Keelan - and her truck - to help me get some boards for a storage plan I've had in the garage.  Not cheap, just over 100 bucks with a box of screws, but it will be more functional and look a whole lot better. 

Above is how I had been storing things in the rafters, on every large, thick cardboard box I got - starting with the lawn mower box on the left shortly after we moved in.  I've since made most two boxes thick.  We don't store anything extraordinarily heavy up there, but boxes sag.  You can see a stick above the workbench helping support an area.

Last Saturday I got a start on this project while my wife was away and I was free to listen to music and play in the garage.  Not that I couldn't have done it with her here, it just happened that way.  I really enjoy projects like this.  I'm not working for 'the Man,' I'm working for myself and I can go at my own leisurely pace.  I've always got good music playing so I can rock out a bit when necessary.  I get real focused while I'm planning things on the fly.  And I love the feeling of having something to look at and say that I did that.

Well, only half of that, for now.  I plan on finishing the other half this Saturday.  Eventually I'll be more organized, I've also had thoughts of fixing up my work bench area and somehow creating a gardening station.  All in due time...

Vertical Videos Are A Sin

I would agree.

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