Back in Action, Or Not.

Well, that didn't take long.  Starting Tuesday my upper back started locking up on me.  No worries, I had some medicine and finally got the muscle relaxers I needed this afternoon.  Most importantly I haven't needed to miss any time at work and now with the right meds tomorrow should be an okay day.  So until I have something more important to post, why don't you check out our garden here (or on the right).  We just picked the garlic!

Pic Dump 17

Well, I survived the first day back after vacation.  Sigh.  My work atmosphere won't change so my attitude must.  Same bullspit - different day, everywhere, for all of us in one way or another.  So it must be time to regurgitate all the pics that have caught my eye recently for one reason or another.  As always, discretion is advised after the break.  Enjoy!

Vacation, The Last Few Days

Thursday and Friday were much like Monday,  I didn't do too much other than listen to the radio and watch some podcasts live.  I did manage to do the last big thing on my to-do list for this week, clean screens and windows.  I started right after Kate went to work on Friday morning.  I got the three windows done that we always have open but the rest weren't dirty enough to spend my time on.  Besides, it was getting pretty warm out there by then. 

Today is Saturday.  I just got back from running a few errands so I don't have to leave the house tomorrow, my last day away from work.  It was nice to take the time for myself this past week.  I was able to get enough done to not feel guilty for the times I was lazy and indulged in mindless radio shows and podcasts.  Starting next week, I won't be able to listen to near as much as I have this week, which is probably a good thing.  My OCD tendencies make me wish I could listen to everything done by Don Geronimo or Mike O'Meara, but reality hits Monday morning. 

Kate is out on the boat with all the smokers today, so this is really the last of my time off right now, this moment.  I am glad I took this vacation, but now I am sad it is over.  Oh well, maybe I'll get to do this again in a year or two...

___________
I was relaxing on the porch and messing around with video on our dinosaur camera when my wife got home from work yesterday.  I knew she would be home soon, but I wasn't expecting her yet. (She said she left a few minutes early.)  Here's that bad video below: (Edit: Video is now viewable, settings are corrected.)

Vacation, Day 5: The Garage

I slept past 7 this morning, only with the help of taking a sleeper last night.  Why can't I ever sleep 8 straight hours?  Oh well, that's another post.  I managed to take my time getting up, though.  This morning I finished my Grandma post and set about getting the garage in order by about by about 10:00.  I stopped only twice before wrapping it up after 5:00 tonight.  I had to take my truck in for a repair at 12:30 at a nearby shop.  It took about an hour so I waited across the street and got lunch at a local bar/restaurant that we have been patronizing since we moved into the neighborhood.  The second time was just to update my podcasts so I could continue listening outside.

It was a warm and humid one today, yet I had a great day organizing our garage!  I had a general plan of what I wanted to do, and this is pretty much it.  We have a lot of stuff in the garage still, but now it looks like it belongs there.  Just compare it to earlier pics.

I will post all my pics today in the order I took them after the break, but here is a good view of it when I was wrapping up:

Now I just have to find a home for this stuff.  I think the box shelves will be going in the basement and I want to find someplace outside to keep the wood from the Easter Sunday limb that fell.  The wheelbarrow will hang in the back right as it did before.

Vacation, Day 4: Grandmas

I got up today (Tuesday) at the same time as yesterday, 4:15 a.m.  So much for sleeping in on my vacation...  Anyway, I got to my sister's house by 8 and we were at Grandma W's house about 9:00 a.m. I hear that she hasn't been much for eating lately, so my Sis suggested taking donuts to get her to eat something.  She did eat and also we got her to walk up and down the block for some exercise so she couldn't use our visit as an excuse not to do it.  Mostly, we sat out on her front porch and talked about anything she wanted to.  I actively tried to get her to talk about her life and family because I'm not sure I will see her again.

This is the sad part, kinda.  Grandma W is 84.  She did say that she is ready, ready to die in not so many words.  She has some bad health problems and just seemed tired and, well, ready.  I'm not sure how much attention my Sis's kids paid to their great grandmother, but I don't think they will have her much longer.  All in all not a bad or depressing visit, though.  I do appreciate talking to her now more than when I was just one of the screaming grandkids in the house.

A bit after 11:00 we said our goodbyes and went across town to visit Grandma L.  She seems to get around a little better so we took her out to lunch at the only restaurant in town that isn't also a bar.  After that, back to her apartment for more conversation.  Again I was trying to get her to talk about her life and family.  I was the first grandchild for her, so my Sis says I'm her favorite and she may be right.  She does seem excited to see me and talk to me.

Grandma L just turned 91 last week.  She said many of the same type of things Grandma W did.  She is ready.  She even has her funeral planned.  I was a bit surprised when she asked me to be a pallbearer, but I said I would be honored. 

The impression I got was that though I may be lucky to still have both my grandmothers at my age, neither may be with us by next year.  I'd like to be wrong, but they do seem to be more than ready, knowing their time is short.  I love you, both!

Before we got back to my Sis's house we stopped by my Mom's work to say hi.  Sis wanted me to go in first, so I strode in and pounded on the counter, mischieviously.  My mom looked up surprised, but with no real recognition until she saw my Sis behind me.  I think I caught her totally off guard! After a short visit we went back to Sis's house.  I thanked them all for coming with me, the kids were very well behaved as always.

Once we were back the kids got in the pool and I wished I had brought my trunks!  Oh well, it was best I get back before the busy part of rush hour anyway.  A good day overall, just a bit mentally tiring.  Thank you Kelly, James, and Lindsey!

Pic Dump 16 - Bacon

I'm a bit tired with all the travel, play, and visiting all day today.  My day 4 vacation post will be posted tomorrow, that will give me time to rest and reflect on a good day with both of my elderly grandmothers.  In the meantime, this is for you...
 
For a while now I have been saving up bacon related pics that I happen across during my internet travels.  None of these pics were sought out, no searches were made.  These were found randomly in my visits to good sites like the ones I list on the right.   While there's not as many pics as a usual picdump I thought I had enough bacon pics to post (Read: I'm tired of collecting them).  Oh, just as a regular Pic Dump post, discretion may be advised after the break.  Enjoy!
 

Vacation, Day 3: A Change In Plans

This morning I woke up about 4:15 a.m.  Crazy, right?  Actually not very unusual, when I'm not on vacation my alarm is set for 4:51 normally.  The first second thing on my mind was The Kirk McEwen and Mike O'Meara Show.   It runs 4 - 8 a.m. my time, so there was going to be at least one morning that I got up early to check it out.  I sleepily decided that today was the day. 

My wife left for work about 7 and after the show was over I just putzed around on the internet, showered, and washed dishes.  When I looked at the clock and it was almost 10:00 a.m., I remembered that The Mike O'Meara Show podcast streams video live on Ustream for an hour.  So most all morning I spent listening and watching the same DJ live - in real time, which I never usually have a chance to do.

By this time the day can go 2 different ways.  Either I could jump into action and start working in the garage or I could relax, read the paper, and get some other little things done then listen to The Don Geronimo Show live at 2 to 6 p.m.  The radiophile in me won out.  I ended up listening to over 8 hours worth of shows today.  Not much accomplished, but I had a nice time relaxing.

Tomorrow I will be traveling with my sister and her kids down to see both of our grandmothers (the kids great-grandmothers!).  I'll try to recap that tomorrow night.  Now, the pizza is on its way so Good Night!

The Kirk McEwen and Mike O'Meara Show

Just a promo vid:

Vacation, Days 1 and 2

Day 1, Saturday.  It did not yet feel like I was on vacation.  It mostly felt like a weekend, like it always does.  That said, Friday was a total joke for me at work.  I only did some work to pass the time, otherwise I giddily screwed around like I never ever do.  For some reason I felt like I deserved to, that one day.  Saturday morning I went grocery shopping and my wife cleaned the house top to bottom.  We grilled out cheeseburgers for lunch and I visited a buddy for an hour or two that afternoon.  Then we stayed home and relaxed all night.  Pretty much regular weekend stuff.

Day 2, Today, Sunday.  It has sunk in that I don't have a 'Monday morning' coming up.  I mowed the lawn this morning, before it got too hot.  Mosquitoes are in season so I was all sprayed up with repellant, still got bit about 4-5 times.  A shower staight away when I was done seemed to help the itching while getting rid of the layer of repellant.

I knew the Brewers played the Pirates at 1:10 in the afternoon so I figured that was a good time to listen to the game and get the workbench assembled.  Time to finally put these pieces of wood together and make something useful!

This pic is after the second time I had to stop and spray 'Yard Guard' in the garage to keep the mosquitoes out.  Don't worry, I gave it plenty of time to settle before I went in there to breathe it in.  These are the sides modified with my own legs for the bench.  My custom legs are 10 inches longer than the ones that came with it.  I'm tall and I don't like to bend over.  If 10 inches is deemed too much later, I can trim the bottoms some.

It's starting to take shape now that I have it standing, still alot of crawling around to screw in all the bottom shelf planks.

At this point I had to run to the hardware store for another phillips bit for my drill.  The one I started out with was pretty worn and by this point was getting useless.  None of the top boards are attached in this pic, but finally I get to do some drilling and screwing while standing upright!

And finally, the finished workbench.  Just as Corey Hart hit a walk off home run to win the game for the Brewers!  (I'm on vacation - I paced myself!) I have pulled everything out of the corner where it will go.  Tomorrow morning I will start by moving the electrical box 2 studs to the left and up a foot or more. Then essentially empty out the garage, reorganize, and put up new shelves to hold all our stuff.  See you tomorrow!

Die Antwoord Coming Up

I'm less than 1 day away from vacation but I think I've already checked out.

Die Antwoord will be in Chicago on Wednesday, July 14.  If it was in Milwaukee I would be very tempted, but not Chicago, not now.  There's already videos online of last night's show in Prague, but this video is from 3 nights ago in Germany.  I love my wife more than anything but if I were to see Die Antwoord live, this is the view I would want.  Yo- Yo- Yo- Yolandi!  Enjoy.