New Roof II - Part 14

I wish I kept a consistent format for this, but the important thing is that it is here.  Ready for another new roof update?  Ready or not, here it is:

10/31, Sunday - I received an email from Matt.  He submitted an in-house service request for Jake to complete the remaining items (stated as a taller piece of trim over the porch and to adjust the pitch of the flashing over the garage.)  He also said Jake would be reaching out to me directly to coordinate scheduling.

11/4, Wednesday - I received a text from Matt.  Jake will call to schedule completion.

11/5, Thursday - I received a text from Julia, not Jake, for him to come out mid-late Friday morning.  I replied no, my wife is having surgery so we will be at the hospital, but I will be home Monday.

She replied, no problem, he can be there Wednesday around the same time.

I replied that other than Monday it would have to be 3:30 or later on a weekday or else on a weekend.  It's been almost 3 months, trust has eroded and I want to be here for anything done.  Thanks for understanding.

She replied back that she would check with the team to see what works.

I then replied to Matt's 10/31 email to state that the other side of the porch roof needs to be looked at as they reused the old flashing and there is a gap between that and the shingles and I just don't know what's underneath.  And the water diverter on the garage needs to be longer, not just adjusted.  These are things I would have discussed with Jake, but he did not reach out directly nor call, and he's not even the one who texted.  I also alluded to expecting a hefty consideration on the final bill for all of this.

11/6, Friday - Julia texted to see if Tuesday at 3:30 would be okay.  I said yes, though I may have to leave before 5 to pick up my car that goes in the shop on Monday.

11/9, Monday - Over the weekend I received payment for my supplemental claim on the roof.  It was less than half of what salesman Tony said I could expect.  I emailed Tony and Matt to point this out.

11/10, Tuesday - I met Jake, the company's 'fixer' or 'cleaner,' basically the back end service technician for the company, and the only one at that.  He saw what I saw, and has seen this bad of work before.  It was good meeting him and know that he sees it and can fix it.  He did not have everything he needed to complete repairs with him in his van, he said he was going off a general note given to him, but assured me he would be in touch and be back later in the week.  But while he was here he did alter the angle of the rain diverter on the garage.  Good enough, the porch is the important part and I want it to be over.

That's where it stands at this moment.  I still expect a good discount for the quality of work, sub-par (to say the least) communication, and length of time (3 months today) it's taking to complete.  I have a feeling I may be requesting a meeting with the owner of the company.

New Roof II - Part 13

Wednesday, 10/7:  I sent a follow-up email to Matt, the one I'm supposedly working with now, asking for thoughts, a timeline, or even an acknowledgment that he received my 9/22 email.  I then offered a final amount to pay for us to each walk away now and I don't leave an honest review of everything I have documented on every media platform possible.  I received no response to that email, either.

Monday & Tuesday, 10/12 & 13:  I texted him to ask if he had read my emails.   A day later I had received no response to that text, so I texted him again to state that going forward I do not want anyone showing up at the house to do anything without my prior knowledge and approval.  Six minutes later I received a text from Matt, apologizing and acknowledging that he did receive my emails and he would try his best to communicate better with me as they finish up my project and to look for an email shortly.

Wednesday, 10/14:  I received another text from Matt saying he did not forget about me, he's just been so busy and did not get into the office the day before but he would still get an email out to me with an update.

Today is 10 days later, 10/24, and I've heard nothing since.

I have the videos, emails and texts to back everything up that I've written here, and writing it out gives me a good documentation of the timeline, as well.  Hopefully I don't have to print out these posts for court.

So some news, but not much.  We'll leave it at this for now, and I will continue to wait.  Maybe I can get lucky and they just forget about us.  I will have to follow up with the insurance company this week, though. 

October This-And-Thats

I know this is a busy few days of posting for me, so scroll down and see if you missed anything after this post.  There was a night out posted on Saturday and a new Latest Listening Pleasure posted yesterday.  This post will be on Monday and a New Roof II post is imminent, probably later this week.  I guess I felt like writing and just had a few things I wanted to get out.

Anyway, I've had a few other random thoughts and pictures that I've wanted to share and document here, so once again it's time to start typing and see where we end up:

Heat - We had the heat on for the first time this season Friday night.  Just for a few hours as the upcoming weekend temperatures were to be warm and wonderful.  It's been a balancing act with not having the heat on.  The house gets cooler at nights but rebounds with the sun during the day and by opening the porch, which collects heat in the sun to share with the house. 

Cats - With last week getting as cool as it was, the cats warming pad was brought out.  They certainly know exactly what it is and absolutely love laying on it.  Thankfully, it has a timer so we don't cook them, but they lay on it even when it's not on.  Gosh help us if they ever learn how to turn it on themselves.

Nuts - It has been a banner year for the neighbor's walnut trees.  One of the heaviest years I've seen for nuts falling into the yard.  I usually go out with the grabber to pick them up and toss them into the corner behind the lilac, and I don't remember ever having to use the rake before but I have twice now so far this year.  Pull them into piles then scoop them into a bucket and dump in the corner.  They will break down and the critters will be in there all fall and winter for the nuts, so the bulk will go down but I may still have to get rid of some material in the spring.  By that I mean shovel that stuff into buckets to take to the dump, at least to get down to the bottom of the fence again.

Sunflower Seeds - The seeds I harvested recently are completely different than the seeds that were planted.  This just confirms the hybrid theory.  Mammoth Grey Stripe seeds are bigger, white and with a few black/grey stripes.  These, as you can see, are smaller and pretty black though you can see some of the stripes in places.  Next year I think I'll go 50/50, seeds from that first sunflower (that are getting older yet) and these black seeds from the multi-bud hybrid that I got this year.  I will have to pay attention to the one-bud sunflowers next year to harvest the Mammoth or at least Mammoth-dominant seeds.

Sunflower Buds - The sunflower plants are way past their prime, yet they continue to pump the last of their energy into lots of buds.  These late buds are very dark green and may not even fully open, but the plants will continue to try until the weather ends their efforts and the cleanup commences.

Halloween - The Halloween decorations have come out.  We've had some pumpkins and mums on the front stoop for a couple weeks now.  The day we put the mums out we saw on doorbell camera what appeared to be a homeless person steal one.  My wife replaced it the next day and we've had no other issues except for nibbling from squirrels.  I was reminded of something I bought for the front corner windows on sale after last Halloween, so there will be something new there this year.  I've still been searching for window coverings similar to that old mummy, but I never imagined it would be so hard to replace.

Sports - The small-market Brewers had the best record in baseball again this year, won their divisional round and are now facing the big-money Dodgers again in the National League Championship Series for the right to go to the World Series.  It's been a fun summer to watch the Brewers again, though my wife has seen me less.  Yesterday the underdog Packers pounded the Bears 31-7.  The Bears won the last two matchups last year and were obnoxious about it, so that felt good.  The Packers have now beaten the Bears 110 times in this oldest rivalry in the NFL.  The Badgers football team had a bye week, but have been winning since the season-opening loss to Notre Dame at Lambeau Field.  Bucks preseason basketball has started, though it's a rebuilding year after trading Giannis.  And Badger Hockey is starting and basketball will be soon, men's and women's for both.  Even the Badger volleyball team has been hot this year.  It's all fun but I'm really, really hoping the Brewers win their first World Series this year.  Go Brewers!

Weather - After a week that culminated in us turning on the heat for a bit on Friday evening, it has been a beautiful, summer-like weekend.  We went out for dinner on Saturday night (out in public two nights out in a row!) and Sunday was beautiful though I spent it indoors but with windows open all day.  A double batch of flatbread made, the Packers game, a nap, then the Brewers game last night.  Today may be our last summer-like day with temperatures up to the mid-80s ºF, with the high 30 degrees lower by the end of the week.  I have nagging thoughts of fall cleanup that needs to be done, but it's still a little early for most things.  At least no gutter cleaning this year.

That seems to be what I can think of for now.  The seasons go faster every year, except for winter.  Winter drags on every year, whether it's a harsh one or not.  I hear a lot of talk about El Nino this year, but no matter.  Cold or mild, snowy or not, we just have to deal with it.

Have a good week, everyone.  Thank you for reading my ramblings.

Latest Listening Pleasure 41 - Electric Callboy

It's been a few years since I did one of these, I think from laziness as there have been favorites that I've thought about writing up here.  Måneskin was a big one that I can think of now but, of course, they've since disappeared.  Rob Zombie is more than deserving of one; I really like his returning guitarist, Riggs, whose own band Scum Of The Earth was LLP 32.  Wet Leg is very intriguing but we'll see when they come out with a second album.  Falling In Reverse, Skynd, Wednesday 13 and Scene Queen might get here eventually.  I'm older now and don't as actively seek out a 'latest and greatest' anymore, but they still find me.  And I still very much enjoy all the artists that have already been in this series, varied as they may be.

Eskimo Callboy found me in 2020 when they released the song Hypa Hypa and, in fact, I did write a LLP Bonus post about them and Skynd back then.  Since then, this German band has just gotten bigger and better, and have just been a joy to listen to and watch their concerts and videos.  Even the behind the scenes stuff just makes me like this band and these people even more.

Here's that first one that got me - hook, line and sinker.  Hypa Hypa:

Eskimo Callboy became Electric Callboy shortly after that time, and everything was updated to the new name.  The band was unaware that their name was considered a slur by some, and they're just so damn wholesome that they couldn't have that so changed their name.  I don't disagree, but I did recently find a Hypa Hypa tee shirt online with the old name so I bought it for posterity.  It arrived this morning, actually, so I haven't even worn it yet.

I could post any of their videos here and love it similarly.  We Got The Moves:

The band changed one of their singers shortly before Hypa Hypa came out, for the better in my opinion, and I've consumed everything of theirs that I could ever since.  Their concerts are non-stop energy with great effects to keep everyone fully engaged and moving.  I've watched so many of their shows online and watched them grow bigger as a band ever since.  Last year there was even a change of drummers that was an amazing story, but would take to long to convey in this space.

There is a youtuber, Tank the Tech, that I watched now and again, and he, an American, now works for the German band full time as their tour manager, even uprooting his family to Germany.  But he's related so many good stories about how they're just such good people.  Truly heartwarming in this day and age, and thankfully they are so un-American it gives me hope for the world.

A much more recent favorite, though I like them all.  Elevator Operator:

First and foremost, I enjoy this band's techno-metal sound and energy.  Their shows are very theatrical with several costume changes with good humor sprinkled throughout everything they do, and they've had a lot of fun collaborations with other bands.  But the behind the scenes personalities and stories make it just so much more enjoyable.  The songs, sound, energy and positivity have easily made them one of my favorites these last six years.  And likely many more to come.

Previous LLP Posts:

LLP 1 - Pain
LLP 2 - Nightwish
LLP 3 - Die Antwoord
LLP 4 - Pain part 2
LLP 5 - Andrew Bird LIVE
LLP 6 - Nightwish part 2
LLP 7 - Paramore
LLP 8 - Newsted
LLP 9 - U.D.O. LIVE
LLP 10 - Nightwish Imaginaerum Movie
LLP 11 - Kiss
LLP 12 - Rick Springfield
LLP 13 - Hyrax
LLP 14 - In This Moment
LLP 15 - Faster Pussycat LIVE
LLP 16 - Sebastian Bach
LLP 17 - Cradle Of Thorns
LLP 18 - Amaranthe
LLP 19 - Lindemann
LLP 20 - Halestorm
LLP 21 - Garbage LIVE
LLP 22 - Arcade
LLP 23 - Nightwish LIVE
LLP 24 - Ace Frehley
LLP 25 - Darkc3ll
LLP 26 - Dementia
LLP 27 - Rammstein
LLP 28 - Marilyn Manson LIVE
LLP 29 - The Harp Twins LIVE
LLP 30 - Diamante
LLP 31 - Steel Panther LIVE
LLP 32 - Scum Of The Earth

LLP 33 - Marty Friedman LIVE
LLP 34 - Buckethead LIVE
LLP 35 - Alice Cooper LIVE
LLP 36 - Poppy

LLP 37 - Code Orange

LLP 38 - Wargasm UK

LLP 39 - The Warning

LLP 40 - ZZ Top - LIVE

LLP 41 - Electric Callboy

An Inconceivable Evening

My wife and I don't go out at night very often anymore, but last night we went downtown for a show - An Inconceivable Evening with Cary Elwes.  My wife's favorite movie is The Princess Bride, so I got tickets when they went on sale last spring at the historic Orpheum Theater.  Even getting tickets early the lower floor was practically sold out, but I got two tickets in the second row of the balcony near center.  Second row was fine with me; I'm tall and the railing is low and there's no safety net.

The movie began promptly at seven, followed by the actor and an interviewer seated center stage.  He regaled us with amusing stories of filming the movie with director Rob Reiner, co-star Andre the Giant and the others.  It's a fun movie and good to see it on the big screen.  Overall, an enjoyable - if not inconceivable - evening.

Dreary Day & NRII Part 12

Today is absolutely dreary out again, overcast and rainy all day.  My wife woke up sick yesterday morning and wound up coming home early from work.  I've been super fatigued all week and wound up calling in sick today.  My wife has more symptoms and I only have that feeling of malaise, though I've been doing all the supplements this week to ward off any sickness.  Normally, when I have a virus I can 'taste' it.  Most don't quite understand that, I don't think, but apart from the feeling I have I do not have that.  Hopefully it doesn't get to that and I can get back to normal sooner than later.

Like the picture a few posts ago, you can see all the plants have gone past their summer prime.  The lawn needs mowing but it's too wet and I'm too tired anyway, so it will likely get done this weekend.  The weather, wet or not, has been in the 60's ºF and that looks to continue, but the nights look to get colder, into the low 40's ºF, but thankfully not lower yet.

A couple updates on the new roof saga to share:

On Thursday, 9/24, I received text from someone at the roofing company saying that Isaac told them it was ready for a final walkthrough and asked to set up a time.  I replied that Isaac was mistaken.  I was dealing with Matt now and am still not satisfied.  I also said the communication with and apparently within their company was lacking.  The next day I received an apology, and Matt was out of office until the next Tuesday but they would check with him.  Speaking of Matt, I've still not heard from him since I emailed him on 9/22.  I've still not been up to see the overhanging shingle trimming, but will have to do that this weekend.

On a better note; yesterday, 9/30, salesman Tony copied me on an email to my insurance company with pictures they found of the old roof being removed with the ice/water barrier that was present.  I still have to reply to add the broken window that was missed on the initial claim, but that will be done soon.  Still no word from Matt since I met him on 9/1.  "Watch your email," he told me as we parted that day.  It is now a month later and I've heard nothing back.  I have no idea when or how they intend to complete the issues.  If we get to completion I will be asking for a considerable consideration on the bill, which may determine if I am satisfied or if I will be leaving an honest review on every platform possible.

Every day, still, you can hear the sound of nail guns in the background anywhere outside on this side of town.  If I had to do it all over I would have waited until spring to hire someone.  Right now, they're all looking to get in, get out, get on to the next and hope no one looks too close.  I mean, really, how could even a day laborer start the first row of shingles halfway covering the gutter?  

Stay tuned, or not, but this may continue for some time yet.  The timeline doesn't bother me so much as the shoddy workmanship, horrendous communication, and broken promises.  I was promised premium work and didn't get it.  I refuse to be taken for a sucker.

Project Updates & Sunflowers

I started this morning with grand plans of repainting all of the garage trim, then I remembered how much I hate painting.  I wound up just painting the lower parts of the trim and doing touch-up where needed.  If it doesn't blend well then I'll repaint all the rest tomorrow as the paint is still good but the rim has rusted out so this will be the last use of this quart, this weekend.  I know I get no style points for my paint job, but function over form for this project.

Meanwhile, I chose a contractor for roofing the house, porch and garage.  We will keep the gutters we have on the house as there's only one small dent on one side, but will replace the downspout that got all beat up.  Last time we did the roof we did not do the porch as we thought we'd be replacing it.  Well, that hasn't happened so we will have a new roof put on that and have the gutters replaced, and all gutters will get a gutter guard so I will no longer have to climb a ladder around the house twice a year to clean them out.  We considered putting gutters on the garage and getting a rain barrel by the garden.  It's still something I dream of doing, but not at this time to keep costs down.  The process of choosing a contractor was harder than it should have been, but that was mostly on the contractors I talked to (or got ghosted by).  The work is planned for sometime in a two week window starting later this month, I should know more soon.

If you remember, as part of our 2024 street reconstruction project included a footbridge across the creek.  That part of the project was stalled due to permitting issues, we were told, but construction is expected to begin this fall and be completed in 2027.  This unnecessary expenditure comes as the city is asking all departments to slash their budgets, still broke though we residents inexplicably voted to let them raise our property taxes to above state-mandated levels a couple years ago.  Egad, what a waste.  We can't wait for these city elections to oust everyone in office right now.

Still peak summer here, with the yard and gardens so alive.  The cone flowers have gotten really tall in the stump area, so no pots on the stump were actually needed this year.  Day lilies that Kate planted a few years ago are bursting with blooms, and other flowers come and go.

If you peek over the fence on the left you'll see the neighbor is getting a new fence to match ours installed today.

The sunflowers have had a hard go of it this year.  Out of 54 planted we have 15 left, so almost 3/4 of them have been lost.  I'll post the rundown after the break, otherwise have a great weekend!

Sunflower Update & RANT

I originally planted 30 sunflower seedlings around the yard.  This batch was 12 days from seeding to planting, though they could have been planted on day 11, maybe 10.   Then the critters got many, so I seeded 24 more in cardboard tubes.  I figured I would fill in around the yard with half and take the other half to work for the clients to enjoy.  On Sunday, after only 8 days (but the nights had been warmer) I planted 10 seedlings around the yard, reseeded two that did not come up, and had 12 others to take to work.

Seeding to seedling came sooner than I expected for this batch.  I was busy on Monday at work, but I would have time Tuesday morning to take some of our early-arriving clients out to plant before classes started, so I pushed it 2 days longer than the seedlings would have preferred.  They were all more than as tall as the tube already and flopping over, but I felt they were still viable.

Then this morning came.  Well, someone called in sick so I had to cover their job coaching duties that morning, and I had my own duties that afternoon.  My boss said I was the only one that could, though I am well aware there was at least one other that could have if they wanted.  I told her about the sunflowers and how they had to get in the ground that day, and it fell on deaf ears.

This was personal to me.  I had planned this all spring (and they knew that), used my own time and resources, and looked forward to sharing these with the clients all summer.

Never again.  Never again will I donate any extra time or resources for this job.

I like the work we do, I personally like most of the people I work with - including management, and of course the clients are (mostly) great.  But this truly may be the most poorly managed place I ever worked.

I don't talk about my work much here.  It's mostly like any other place, with cliques and favoritism and gossip.  Whiners, slackers and assholes are everywhere.  (If I had to put myself in one of those categories it would be the latter.)  I was hoping to ride this out, but I feel I should find something else soon.  The only real hesitation to resigning is health insurance for me and my wife.  Even a one month gap could cost us several hundreds to a thousand dollars to remain insured, and it would more likely be 2-3 months that we would have to cover.  Healthcare in America is tied to full time employment, is rapidly declining, and the insurance system that supports it is rigged only to make money.  (As I write this I requested prescription renewals a week ago Friday.  I received a response on Tuesday to allow 48 to 72 hours.  Here it is a week after that and I've not heard anything yet.)

Anyway, I came home to a tangled box of seedlings that should have been in the ground days ago.  I got them all in the ground around here, someplace or another, but I'm sure not all will make it.

Yes, I could have waited another day or two and planted them at work and hoped for the best.  I  could plant another batch and try again in just over a week, too.  But no - just, no.  They knew, and that time has now passed.  My time for them may have now passed, too.  Believe me, this is not my first complaint.

Thanks for making it to the end of my rant.  I even got a good one in on healthcare there.  This weekend I'll take stock of the sunflowers and report back how many are still alive and how many I think will make it to maturity.  Thanks for listening, take care.

Spring Vacation Part II, Ring Cameras & Hail Update

Tuesday and Wednesday, days 7 and 8, I had dental appointments in the mornings.  See day 1 notes last post for all the dental details.  After the root canal on Tuesday I went home, and as I was driving down the street the neighbor's cat wandered out right in front of me, oblivious, as was her owner just on the sidewalk.  I stopped right behind the cat, waited a moment, then gave the horn a quick beep.  The cat scattered out of the roadway and I pulled into the driveway.  Next thing I know, this neighbor was coming down my driveway, flipping me off and swearing up a storm.  I started yelling back that her cat was in the damn road, but my mouth was still numb so didn't say a whole lot more other than to get the hell off my property.  This is the same neighbor that slashed my tire right after we first moved in, in 2009.  She's trash that's come into money and acts like she's the baddest bitch on the block.  We've never been friendly and we never will be.

We have dashcams in both cars now, more security for us.

I told the story to my wife and showed her the dashcam video.  My wife said that's it, we need a doorbell camera.  I spent that day and Wednesday researching and we bought a Ring doorbell and I got a Ring spotlight camera with solar panel for the back.  The doorbell camera I installed last weekend, and the later-arriving solar panel and spotlight camera were installed on the house this morning.  I must say, having the extra security feels pretty good.  Otherwise, I didn't do a whole lot on these dental days.

Thursday was day 9.  I know I took too long to write about all this; I haven't the foggiest idea what I did on Thursday.  There were many little jobs and projects that I did along the way, so I imagine a few of those and probably lunch out.

Friday, day 10, I had to go into work.  Ahead of time I had requested a certain client for a community outing, and we spent all day out and about, only going back in time for him to catch his bus.  I did not want to lose my vacation vibe yet, especially with a three day weekend after.

Kate had to work the weekend due to the holiday, so we missed my niece's high school graduation on Saturday, day 11.  Also on Saturday I planted 24 more sunflower seeds.  I'll plant 12 to fill in around the yard here and the other 12 I'm going to make some cages for and take them to work, we'll see how they fare there.  I originally planned on all 24 going to work but that seemed a bit ambitious and would take more of my own resources.  Twelve is much better than the two (of 3) I grew at work last year.  We'll have to find out if the critters out there will behave.  This new batch of seeds just popped out of the soil on Wednesday so should be ready to plant very soon.

Sunday and Monday, days 12 and 13, were mostly rest and relaxation as far as I can remember.  

A great view of the back.  The actual view extends about 25% further up and down, this pic is the size of my phone screen.

No fire pits on this vacation.  I had a couple opportunities but mostly it was too windy or I was too tired.  Last night would have been perfect too, but I was beat, and tonight is too windy again.  So far this year I've only had the one fire on the Spring equinox.  Let's hope I have another before the Summer solstice and before the mosquitoes emerge.

*          *     Hail     *         *

Also happening during this time, our auto claim for hail damage got settled.  The insurance company totaled my wife's van as the repairs would cost more than it was worth.  The settlement was for blue book value if we signed the van over to them, or the lesser trade-in value if we wanted to keep it.  Well, even used cars are much more expensive these days, so my wife opted to keep the van rather than hurriedly shop for cars and invest thousands more dollars, possibly tens of thousands.  We'll have to get the windshield replaced, but the dents will stay.  Final payment should be in our account by early next week.

The house claim has also mostly been settled.  Now I will have to fix the basement window, find someone to replace the roof and gutters, and we have to decide if we will have the window flashing replaced.  I am not planning on replacing the siding as those dents are not as noticeable and when we do replace some siding we'll do the whole house and maybe something a little different.  There also may be a few window screens to replace, and I think that's about it.  Once all is done and receipt copies uploaded, this will be done, too.  Repairs are happening rapidly all over this side of town, but I've been more patient.  All will be done long before winter.

And within the last two weeks we had our insurance premiums due for house and cars.  They did go up, but I'm not sure if the claims had anything to do with that or not.  What do you think?

Spring Vacation Part I

I took my spring vacation recently, 12 of 13 days in a row off from work.  I was unable to get last Friday off due to seniority and poor scheduling practices (in my opinion).  I had several possible projects planned for this vacation, but only got to some.  Others will still get done, hopefully before my fall vacation.

As I noted here, day 1 of my vacation, two weeks ago today, I had made a dental appointment with my dentist due to a crowned tooth starting to give me discomfort.  That resulted in a referral appointment the following Tuesday for a possible root canal.  Of course, I needed one, and they expected that so it was done that day.  Once home, and no longer numb, I called my dentist again to schedule having this old crown replaced.  They had an opening the next morning, so I took it.  I now have a temporary crown on the root-canalled tooth, due for replacing with the permanent crown a week from today.  This was probably better to do on my time off so using up less time off from work for three appointments, and I'm actually happy it went so quickly.  One more appointment to go, and for that I will only miss an hour of work at the end of the day.  Anyway, dental appointments were the main event for a couple of days the next week.

Day 1, after the dentist and before leaving for Mom's.  In the bucket is cat grass starting, then lettuce seeds my wife is starting in tubes, and 30 sunflower seedlings ready to plant.

Also on day 1, after the appointment, I took a trip down to see Mom.  We got a few spring things done for her and her household, but mostly relaxed and caught up.  She seems to keep busy with appointments, graduations and her social life.  And she seems happy, which is as much as I could ask for.  I returned to Madison about midday the following day, day 2.  

Later on day 2 my wife and I planted 30 sunflower seedlings around the yard in groups of two and mostly three, you can read and see more about that here.  It didn't take long for them to get noticed.  Just days later about half had been destroyed by critters despite being caged.  Whether it was a baby rabbit, ground squirrel or something else digging in to get them, they sure did a number on my seedlings this spring.  More on this later.

Friday, day 3, I had a 90 minute massage booked.  This is the third time I've gotten a professional massage on my vacation in the last couple years.  It was very nice, but I think 60 minutes is better.  All that time on my stomach getting massaged caused my sinuses to fill up and made breathing difficult.  An unwelcome distraction.  Of course, 5 minutes after getting up I was clear as a bell.  I don't remember what else happened on that day, but I likely went out to lunch and relaxed with a Brewers game that evening.

Saturday, day 4, was Plant Day around here.  My wife and I went out and got some plants for the flowerbeds and gardens.  You can read and see more about that here, if you wish.  I believe it was this weekend, with Sunday, day 5, that I paid more attention to the lawn, too.  Last year I had the lawn aerated, basically a last ditch effort to get better grass in front - it didn't help.  I pretty much gave up on the front lawn now.  Oh, I've made broad chemical efforts to maintain some decency, but I will no longer worry about fighting back the neighborhood's weeds too much.  The back yard, however, is more protected and will continue to get more care.  The latest problem is one of the groundcover wildflowers wanting to spread from the stump area.  I will need to spend some time on it again soon.  And yes, spray weeds individually.

Then on Monday, day 6, my wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a nice dinner out and some ice cream at home.  It was only a Monday and she had to work that day, so that was about all we were up for.  I do believe it was also this day I spent the morning making a double batch of yummy flatbread.

The weather was pretty wonderful for this vacation.  I did get plenty of rest, relaxation, and went out for food and drink often, but that's pretty normal for us.  I do have more to say about the week that followed, but at a later time.  Cheers for now.

Easter And Tortillas

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter.  It was a three day weekend for me starting with Friday off.  My wife has a part time job now and had to work Friday and Sunday, so I had plenty of time to myself.  My next vacation is in May and I can hardly wait.  Anyway, I went out for lunch yesterday then came home and watched the Brewers in the afternoon.  So, a good day, but didn't really feel like a holiday.

I normally make myself a list of things to get done over the weekends.  It had been a while since I posted, so I had 'write' on my list, but other than more about the weather I had nothing to write about all weekend.  Then yesterday I made tortillas again, the fourth attempt.  Now, every recipe gives you a choice of fat; vegetable oil, butter, shortening or lard.  First attempt was with vegetable oil, rolled and fried.  Then I got a cast iron tortilla press.  The second attempt was a different recipe and I tried butter as the fat, and used the heated press to try and press and cook at the same time.  My results were very poor.  On the third attempt I went back to the first recipe and used oil again.  I also used the cool press to form them but fried them in a pan.  Not bad, but I still didn't like the greasy look and they had to get bigger.

For this fourth attempt I used that same recipe, doubled, and with shortening.  I also increased the dough balls from 50 grams to 80 grams, and added just a touch of baking powder.  Again, I used the press to form them then fried in a pan.  So far I got my best results yet, though I may increase the weight to 90 or 100 grams next time.  

I'm not sure why, but I didn't try one at the time.  They looked and felt really good so I just trusted that, I suppose.  Well, tonight we're going to have tacos for dinner so we'll know for sure if I'm on the right track.  I'll wait to post this until after dinner, then leave a few more thoughts after this pic of my assembly line.

Well, not too shabby for just the fourth attempt.  Pretty good, even.  Leftovers from attempts two and three have been tossed out now as these are easily better.  The next try will be larger tortillas and I may omit the baking powder to see the difference.  All in all, a good batch.  Practice makes perfect, right?

Back And Forth, But Crocus!

It's official, spring is imminent in Wisconsin.  Today was beautiful, sunny and getting into the mid-50's this afternoon, so I took a walk around the back yard today after arriving home.  I was hoping for, yet still surprised to see, the purple crocus coming up in the back yard.  Only three small clumps like this one, but surely many more to come.

Our weather has been back and forth recently, occasional bits of snow and/or cold mixed with sun and above freezing to very pleasant days like today.  As it usually is for us in spring, more so than fall, it seems.  Tomorrow is colder with rain expected, but the forecast is very encouraging, though still with some of that back and forth.  

I know the crocus are probably the first really encouraging sign of spring for me, as snowdrops are for others.  Aside from the better temperatures, there is spring training baseball, March Madness basketball, maybe seeing buds on the trees or the first robin, or in my case, Mom coming back home. What other occurrences help you change your mindset from winter to spring?

1500 Posts!

Woohoo!  This is my 1500th post on this blog.

Well over half came within the first five years, many frivolous.  Took me that long to figure out what I wanted to do, I guess.  I've now posted 669 times since 2015, around 5 times a month, on average.  Hopefully a better read as I've gone on.

This is prescheduled.  I should currently be relaxing with my Mom the snowbird after fetching her from the airport this afternoon and driving her home.  Friday is/was a busy day for both of us, but this night we can relax.

Thank you.  That's all, you may move along now.  Nothing else to see here.  : )

Baking And Making Homemade

I may not write about it all the time, but I'm still enjoying baking as much as ever.  I'm looking at being able to make more things here at home rather than buying at a bakery or grocery store.  And I'm finding how simple much of it is.

I now have three very good pizza dough recipes that I make every so often, which has very much lessened ordering out and I can't remember the last time we even thought about buying a frozen pizza.  A thin crust recipe that uses fine 00 pizza flour to make four dough balls that I make ahead and freeze.  A pan pizza dough that is similar to a focaccia that I make ahead and can wait in the refrigerator for 12-72 hours before baking.  And the newest is similar to a hand-tossed crust, uses course-ground semolina flour and sits in the refrigerator for a day before baking.  

Any of the pizza doughs I can add King Arthur's Pizza Dough Flavor, which is basically cheddar cheese powder with salt, onion and garlic powder and a few other things.  I did get some plain cheddar cheese powder, which is much cheaper, so I can make my own soon if I wish.  KA also sells a Pizza seasoning that can be sprinkled on pizza, but also makes a very good pizza sauce, that I've made many times, with crushed tomatoes, garlic and olive oil.

I bake them (not pan) on a pizza stone and peel that we've had for a long time and stopped using for some reason, but now it gets a whole lot of use.  We've definitely stepped up our home made pizza game in a huge way.  I could put a pizza picture here, but I have a feeling that will be its own post someday with more detail on all three crusts.

I had also been thinking about making my own tortillas as we do often enjoy Mexican food at home.  I've already made my own homemade taco sauce a few times now.  Just tomato sauce and spices we already had in the cupboard.  On a recent day off I decided to give tortillas a try.  It was unbelievably simple.  For the fat you can use oil, lard, shortening or butter.  We normally have oil and butter in the house, so I tried with oil but will try butter next time.  I rolled them out, a bit too thin, and dry fried them on the stove.  They turned out pretty good for a first try, enough for me to buy a tortilla press for my next batch.  I can see these becoming a staple in this household soon.

I still make baguette often enough to keep some available in the freezer, but I've been making baguette the longest and have written about it often here.  My go-to recipe has changed a bit, as has my technique.  I no longer care about making 16 inch versions of a French baguette and am more concerned about taste and form for our uses.

And it had been a while, but I made a couple batches of cheese pennies yesterday.  Cheese pennies are a fun snack, so I made a roll of parmesan and a roll of sharp cheddar - with added cheese powder.  So tasty.  This pan pictured was pretty much dinner last night, along with a loaf of what I'll write about next.  These could have used another minute or two in the oven, but still good.

I made glass bread (Pan de Cristal) yesterday.  I had made it once before, but I was a less experienced baker then.  This was before I got a baking stone so they were baked on the round pizza stone and also I overcooked them.  I know I wrote about it here, I'm just too lazy to look it up to link.  Glass bread is a 100% hydration bread, so the dough starts out like pancake batter and is very delicate.  Big bubbles form in the crumb making the bread so light and airy.  I wish I could get more of that in my baguette - maybe someday.

The glass bread dough gets stronger through coil folds and time, with the last resting period about 2 hours before going in the oven.  This made 4 loaves, three of which went into the freezer.  Mine may be slightly less done than usual, but that was on purpose so we can throw one in the oven for 5-10 minutes sometime and have it taste like fresh.  I suppose you could make a sandwich out  of it if you cut it the long way like a bun, but as far as I'm concerned it's a wonderful snacking bread.

I skipped over a lot of details here for brevity, but the details do change as I go.  Many are a combination of flours, like the 00 recipe I use half AP flour, etc., and the ratio may change on my whim.  As may the hydration percent I use in some doughs.  My tools, techniques and dough handling have also improved a lot since I started baking a few years ago.

I get great satisfaction from making these thing at home rather than buying them, though my wife would tell you I'm never satisfied.  I'm getting there, I just like trying to improve whatever I'm making every time I make it.  We all need something, right?

Leaf-Free Streets II

Click the pic to read it much more easily!

Before Halloween I put out the sign we requested and received from Clean Lakes Alliance promoting leaf-free streets to help prevent phosphorus from fallen leaves entering our lakes, which contributes to massive algae blooms in the summer.  My thought was that hopefully parents would see and read it when trick or treating with their kids, and maybe even neighbors would join in.  I know we can only do so much, but at least we're doing something.

We'd been pretty windy the last couple weeks so there wasn't a need for the sign or any action to take before this, but we knew it was coming.  Now, there is a chance of rain later tonight and we finally did have some leaves on the street in front, so this evening was the first time I went out and raked the leaves on the street curb up onto our terrace.  If I'm advertising it then I better do it, right?  

I did buy an smaller, inexpensive metal tine rake to keep around the corner of the front door for this purpose.  We already have a broom stashed there, and they stay relatively hidden behind the bushes and drain pipe.  I thought the metal tines would be more flexible than plastic because I want to get the leaves up but leave any rocks in the street and not pull them onto the terrace.  

There weren't many leaves today, but we'll continue to do our share to keep less leaf-tea from running into the gutter at the end of the street, which empties right there into Starkweather creek, which then flows directly into Lake Monona.  I like how they used our address to give us the correct sign, rather than a generic one, and we may use it every fall now.  If everyone did just a little bit, either this cause or another, change would happen more quickly and easily.

I also took a quick picture of the back yard, and you can see how the plants have started melting just since our first frost, and easily another hard frost last night/this morning.  I may try to strim much of the plants into mulch this weekend, but it's forecast to be some of our coldest days yet so I might wait.  I mowed last week to mulch the black walnut leaves in the back yard, and that needs to be done again, too.  Any leaves in front will eventually be raked into piles, vacuumed up and mulched for the flowerbeds once they are done falling and much drier.

We even have a chance of getting our first snow late Saturday night, but I think the forecast may have changed to earlier precipitation so might just be rain earlier in the afternoon.  But the inevitable is coming, no doubt about it.

Farewell, Ace Frehley

I also found my first Ace autograph in a storage box.  I had it in an old, dirty frame with two Kiss trading cards, of which I have both sets still stored somewhere.  Anyway, I ditched the frame and scanned them all together. 

In the late 80's I met a friend who had run into all 4 members of Frehley's Comet outside their hotel, I forget which city.  He realized how big of an Ace fan I was and gifted me this autograph, though he wouldn't part with the other band members'.  A few years later he moved to Colorado and I haven't heard from him since, but I still have this.

This also seems an appropriate time to share the first Kiss poster again, original post here.  I also have the aforementioned trading cards, Kiss On Tour board game, all 4 puzzles, die cast toy cars, tons of magazines and posters, several of all of their albums including rare releases, plus some t-shirts, pins, patches, hats, bandanas and more.

Well, things go in threes, so thank you for attending my Ace Frehley tribute posts this weekend.  We did some more cleanup in the back yard so I'm delaying pictures of that until sometime this week.  For now, here is Ace's biggest hit performed during his last live concert.  

Farewell, Ace Frehley.

Ace And I, 1994

It was the summer of 1994 when I first saw Ace Frehley and his solo band live at a club in Chicago.  I was coming into town to visit a friend and heard an ad for the show on the radio.  When I got to my friend's house I let him know exactly what we were going to be doing the next night.  Thankfully, he agreed.

At that show I met a woman who knew Ace, and though I had been drinking quite a bit she seemed to like me a lot and took me backstage to meet him after the show.  It was brief, and I was drunk and starstruck.  We kept in touch and eventually she invited me down for a Kiss convention in November that year as Ace was the featured guest.  It was there I met Ace for the second time, an even more brief meeting as, because of my woman friend, I was allowed to cut the line to get a picture with him as he was about to greet everyone.

This is the only picture I have of Ace and me.  It was a Kodak 110 Instamatic camera with a flash bar, but even the archaic camera could not be blamed for the poor picture she took.

This picture was taken right after as attendees started moving through the line.  I have that same shirt he's wearing as I bought it at that earlier club show.  Very cool shirt and I still have it, but it's way too small for me now.

All just memories I've had for decades by now, but a youthful, fun experience that I will hold on to forever.  Thank you, Ace.

R.I.P. Ace Frehley

Ace Frehley is my all-time favorite rock star, and has been for almost all of my life.  If you've been under a rock recently, he died yesterday at 74 years old.

I had the pleasure to meet Ace twice, both times in the early to mid 90's I think, and I was completely drunk the first time and totally starstruck dumb the second time.  But I've also been lucky enough to see him perform live several times with Kiss and solo twice, up close in clubs.  I can't say much more than I've already written now or have written before.  Ace has been a constant in my life, and will continue to be.

Thank you, Ace Frehley.

Street Reconstruction Part 18, Burn Day & Blogday

Yesterday morning, shortly before I had to leave for work, we had to scramble to get my car out of the garage and her van into the driveway.  We knew there was no parking on much of the street starting this morning, but they had gotten to work earlier than we expected.  It was time to plant the trees on our street and the next street over.

I grabbed a quick picture after our little fire drill, and after the holes were drilled on the terraces for planting the new trees.  The workman walking by the hole where my wife was parked was a coincidence.  I had no time to try for a better picture as I had to then leave for work.

When I got home, several new trees had been planted.  There's been lots of trees cut down since we moved in, now each had finally been replaced.  And in almost the exact same spots, too.  Not surprising, actually, when you think of the underground utilities going to each house.  My wife said they were easily done by noon, which didn't surprise me with such an early start.

The second picture shows the new tree in front of neighbor Jane's, and not many more.  A similar shot on the other side of the street facing the opposite direction would have shown several more, but neighbors might wonder what I'm doing over there taking pictures, and they all look pretty much the same right now anyway.

Another thought about the street:  If it had to be parking on one side only then I'm very glad its the other side.  Especially on garbage day when the bins are all out.  No parking within 4 feet of a driveway or within 2 feet of the next car, per city rules.  We've not had a big issue yet, Kate and I, but I know others have had to adjust, especially when someone else has guests over.  And I know one neighbor has to park at least one and sometimes two cars all the way up at the top of the street on the next block.  Older and adult kids living with parents clog up much of the parking, at least on this end of the street.

Separate from the street reconstruction, we had another *biennial (*corrected) rite of spring happen.  While I was at work today the city did a controlled burn along the creek.  I'll add those pictures after the break, if anyone would like to take a look.  The banks of the creek won't be this clear for another two years.

And, finally, today is my 16th Blogday.  Still chugging along, after all...

January This-And-Thats

Well, time to break the seal with the first new post of 2025.  The holidays have come and gone, and we've settled back into daily life here.  I don't have any big news or anything like that, and I haven't done one of these posts in a while, so time to start typing and see what spills out onto the page.

• 
  I've been baking quite a bit again recently, though still only on the weekends.  Most recently I made cinnamon rolls again, though this recipe is a bit of a cheat as I used the frozen bread dough.  Still, they turned out very well and were a nice, sweet treat with whipped cream cheese frosting.  I also made another batch of flatbread yesterday, and for the first time in a while I made the classic baguette recipe that I used to make all the time.  Also yesterday, I tried a new whole wheat baguette recipe that I modified a bit from a ToYoube video.  While it tastes good, I did not get the rise from them that I should have so wound up with skinny baguettes.  I believe the water was too warm, though I waited for it to cool some it evidently was not long enough and likely killed some of the yeast.  I should know better by now, but I'll make a few tweaks and try this recipe again soon.
• 
  We had Kate's van in for new tires last week, so another hefty bill.  Thankfully the brakes are still good for some time so we didn't have those done.  Now, my light just came on in my car so I'll have to get it in for an oil change soon.  Always something...
• Sometime during the last week the last of the pumpkins on the stump were fully consumed.  Though we've had cold, we've not had a whole lot of snow here yet (*knock wood) so they haven't been buried much.  I'm fine with not much snow, but come spring we'll miss the water if we continue like this.  I sometimes feel bad for putting our veg compost in the bin rather than leaving it out for the critters, but we do not need to attract more animals to our yard.
• 
  The latest project update for our street reconstruction just tells us that trees will be planted in spring, and they still plan on going ahead with the bike/pedestrian bridge over the creek, scheduled for summer this year.  I still believe it is a waste of our taxpayer dollars as there is a bridge 2 blocks north and 2 blocks south of the site.  This current city administration has plowed ahead with unpopular projects and I highly doubt will win re-election.  But I still can't fathom how our voters approved the city to raise our property taxes above state-mandated limits - and with no end date!
• Last month we replaced the suet feeder with a double suet feeder for winter, though we seem to get less birds now.  Perhaps they migrated or just have different habits for winter.  But we have been getting more woodpeckers visiting, which is kind of neat.  I'd also consider a hummingbird feeder next spring as I know they're around and nice to watch.
• 
  I bought my wife a birthday present recently, for a week from today.  I couldn't get it through Amazin' because she would see the notifications, so I went through another popular online retailer.  It was pretty expensive and the box is oddly shaped, so I never figured it would be delivered in its original box, but it was.  And my wife retrieved it, when delivered, so she knows what it is now.  But she said she didn't look closely and does not want it early.  She expects it on her birthday, and wrapped, so that's what she'll get.  I was kind of proud of the gift and I hope she truly likes it.  Maybe I'll share what it is after next week.
• Playoff football is upon us.  Ohio State and Notre Dame will battle next week for the college championship, and the NFL playoffs began this week.  My beloved Packers will be playing the Eagles this afternoon and I'll be watching the game closely and cheering on my team.  Go Packers!
• The day after my wife's birthday is inauguration day.  He's already distracting from false promises he made while campaigning ($2 gas, cheaper groceries, no taxes on overtime, etc.), the things that made many people vote for him.  Why they think these rich, white men care about them is beyond me.  Oh, well, what's done is done.  The circus is about to begin.

I started typing this morning and my wife and I went out for a bit this afternoon.  A rare weekend day that she didn't have to go over to her dad's.  She had the kitchen this morning for cooking otherwise I would probably be trying that whole wheat baguette again.  But I baked pretty much all day yesterday (though a lot was rise time), and was pretty tired last night so good to take today off.

Have a great week, everyone.