An Unexpected Letter

I received this letter close to a month ago.  I have been unsure how to react so I set it aside and have looked at it now and again and I still don't know what to do.  As soon as I saw the name on the return address I recognized it immediately as an old grade school classmate.  I had probably last talked to him when I was 11, in 1978 or so.  Our class was rather small in that catholic grade school, so my first thought was of a reunion, perhaps.  I was a little taken aback by what I then read.
Red is the letter, Blue is my thoughts and responses, just to be clear.

Hi [Scoakat],
This note is from [childhood chum].  I don't know if you'll remember me, but I was in your class at [grade school] in [city, state] before your family moved away.  I hope you don't mind me contacting you out of the blue like this.

No, really, not at all.

I'm sure it's weird getting a note from me after 35 years!

A bit, but my first thoughts were good ones.

The reason I am writing is to ask your forgiveness for being such a jerk to you in grade school.

Really?  Now I was one that was prone to bullying*.  But I probably would have expected this letter from 1 or 2 others than this classmate.  He was a real dick sometimes, but also a showoff, as all kids are at that age.

I am currently working through some issues in my life and actually going through the Twelve Steps made famous by Alcoholics Anonymous.

A-ha!

When I got to step 8 and started making a list of people I treated badly in my life, I thought of you.  I remember some distinct times where I treated you badly when we were kids and wanted to write and let you know how sorry I am about that.  You certainly didn't deserve it.  I remember some times of being friends and doing fun things together (like watching those old SpiderMan cartoons at your house), while at other times I'm sure I must have seemed much more like an enemy.  At the very least I was a really poor friend.  so I hope you will receive this apology and be able to forgive me.

As I noted earlier, that was a very small class even for those days, I always thought we were pretty tight as a group when it came right down to it.  Well, I thought we all felt that way back then, but I moved away and they had to grow up together!  I had bad moments and good moments with each, to varying degrees, but I never considered myself as bullied too much, unfortunately I just was near the bottom of the pecking order then.  Cripes, we were kids!

You were a nice kid, and I have good memories of you.

Well, thank you.  Really kind of unnecessary, but if it helps, thank you.  The next few sentences are just personal info and chat.

Sincerely, [Childhood Chum]

He did provide his email in case I wished to contact him, and I may. Now that I have written this I may just send him the link as my response and then take it from there. In that case, I do want to say thank you for your thoughts, Childhood Chum, and good luck dealing with whatever brought you to this point.  All my sincere best wishes to you and yours.

Regards, Scoakat


*Edit  8/22 - What I meant by 'prone to bullying' is by other kids.  Sorry if my writing was misleading.
*For perspective, when I was that age I can say that I had no older siblings, no kid relatives (cousins, etc.) in the area and even if I did I was one of the oldest of those, and my dad got home late and left early six days a week.  I could go days without seeing him and when I did it was usually to berate me and/or whip me with the belt.  I'm just saying that I had no one to look up to or out for me back then and I didn't really do a good job of it myself.  But that was as kids, mostly when I could tell you my age on my fingers.  I've turned out as fine as anyone.

Pic Dump 42

Once more, time to dump my collected pics since last time...   No, I haven't fixed my photo uploading problem yet, this is one I had in the can for a week or so.  Again, some are funny, some are strange, some are wonderful and some are NSFW.  Many are a combination of the above, and much, much more after the break.  Enjoy!

Once again, many thanks to 'My Favorite Sites' listed in the right column always, and here now:
Bits & Pieces, Crazy, Lazy, Silly and Strange, I Have Seen The Whole Of The Internet, Naughty Bits, and the Watcher's Web Funny Farm. 

Photos, Compost Bin and Kittens

There have been a few things rolling around in my head lately.  Time to shake my head sideways and see what falls out

• I still can't post photos unless I use one with a url.  Tomorrow I hope to find time to tackle that issue.  I may have to look at other sites like flickr, etc., so I don't lose any from earlier posts.  I wasn't expecting this issue to come up, but it is fixable, I'm sure.  I just have to spend some time looking into it.
• Overtime at work was cancelled a couple days ago so I was able to take Friday afternoon off.  I spent my time building the doors for the compost bin.  It is now completely finished, well, except that it has to be moved into the back yard.  Kate is hosting a small party tonight so we should have more than enough help.  I'll have to remove the top for the move, then put it back on once the bin is in place.  I was outside this morning doing yard work and leveling the area so it drops in easily.  Oh, and 'sweating buckets' is not just a saying, it is very hot and humid today.
• The kittens, Basil and Hamish, are growing bigger every day.  They must be twice as big as when I posted all these pics of them - and that was only a month ago!  We have been trying to give them baths every so often so they get used to it.  Basil enjoys them, Hamish not so much.  We're also trying to keep their front claws clipped.  The best time to do it is right before they nap so they're too tired to mind too much.  Training them to stay off the dining table, computer desk and, eventually, the counters is problematic, but we got the litter box downstairs easily.  They have no fear of the basement.  Hell, they have no fear.
• I received an odd letter a few weeks ago.  Hmmm.  You know, the more I think about it, this deserves a post all by itself.  I guess you can look for that one soon.

In fact, that's about all I have right now. PTFU

Sunday at Miller Park*

Yesterday I enjoyed my first trip to see the Brewers play at Miller Park.  The park has only been open for a decade or so, so I guess it was time, eh?  Normally I prefer to stay away from places where there are that many thousands of people, and it was sold out so that's about 45 thousand in one place, but not having to be the driver and only being able to just be a follower to my friends made it pretty easy on me.  We did get to see some good baseball, and the Brewers were ahead when we left around the beginning of the seventh inning, but on the drive home we listened to the opponent come back and win in extra innings - an all too common occurrence with this team lately.  No matter, I had a lot of fun!  I guess Lambeau is next, but that's even more people.  Sigh.

Well, there were more photos that I wished to upload, but it seems my Picasa photo album is 100% full and I do not wish to buy more storage.  I've never dealt with Picasa except for this blog, and I don't deal with it then, that's just where Blogger puts them when I upload them to this blog (Google owns both Blogger and Picasa - plus Gmail, Youtube, etc.  Basically everything I use on the internet it seems).  So until I figure out how to get into my album and delete some old pic dumps or something there will be no pics.  Fear not, I'll probably have time to get to this on the weekend and I already have the next pic dump ready to go to be posted in a couple days.  PTFO

*Edit 8/2:  I can't post photos yet but I can embed videos.  2 vids of conversation and some plays on the field at Miller Park after the break!

Finishing the Compost Bin

Well, finishing this main part of it.  The compost bin has shaped up well and looks rather nice, I think.  A new friend, Mike, came over this morning to help me finish it and turned out to be the best help I could ever ask for.  He just assisted in every way and let me go about it as I wanted, it was very nice to have a second set of hands all day.  We worked right up to 4 o'clock, longer than I had planned - but I do admit to a leisurely pace.  So far, it has turned out exactly as I had intended, almost.  I still have to figure out how I want to do the doors in front.  That will be the next thing I do, sometime in the next few weekends.  For now it is in the garage waiting for a coat or two of water seal this week.  Late in the week I will have to go back and clean up the corner so we can drop it right in place next weekend. 

Weekend Plans

Well, a week has gone by now since my vacation.  We had mandatory overtime this week (and next) so my time has been taken by other things than blogging.  I have not worked on the compost bin since my last post, but tomorrow a friend is coming by early to help out.  It may take until mid afternoon to finish (at my pace, anyway) with a lunch excursion at some point.  My hope is to have it done tomorrow so Kate (who will be on the lake tomorrow, lucky her!) and I can put a coat or two of water seal on it during the week before moving to the back yard with help when we have people over next Friday. 

Sunday I am going to visit Miller Park to watch the Milwaukee Brewers play some baseball.  Unfortunately they are in a free fall, having lost 7 games in a row going into tonight's game.  But it is Bob Uecker bobblehead day and I am going with Jerome and another friend from work so it should be a real fun day!  I will take my camera so I'm sure I'll be posting pics of the park and, uh, stuff. 

We have finally gotten some rain over the past week or so.  While many plants are lost, my lawn is coming back well so far.  There are still some areas that may need some seed.  Okay, that's all for now, I'm pooped.

PTFO

Vacation, Day Five

Once again, although I got up early I didn't really do anything until 10:00 or so.  I was a bit sore from all the hours I worked on the compost bin yesterday so I didn't plan on much today.  I was able to get the front built and I used a sealer around the edges of the screen on all the pieces.  By then it was after two in the afternoon and getting hot so I thought it was a good time to clean up and go in and turn on the air conditioning. Here are the pieces I have finished so far kind of mocked up to visualize a bit better.  The front piece is in back leaning against the ladder.  My feeling now is that I will assemble it in the garage, it will be much easier to square up.  I'll just have to round up some friends to help me move it to the back.

Now, since I've finished early, maybe I'll take my first nap of this vacation.... if the kittens let me!

Vacation, Day Four

We got another 1.5 inches or so of rain last night, so while today was overcast and much cooler, it was also very humid.  Still a lot better than stupid hot, but that will be back in a couple days.  While I got up early I dawdled for a bit before I began constructing the compost bin.  I got off to a great start but then had to stop because I had plans to go out to lunch with my friend, Jerome.  He started working second shift a few weeks ago so we don't have the opportunity much anymore.  It was nice to see him, but after that I went right back to the task at hand.

I was very pleased that things have turned out exactly as I planned so far.  I was able to insert the hardware cloth into the rip cut with little difficulty, but it is apparent I will have to use some kind of sealer so water doesn't sit in there.  There's not a whole lot holding the sides and middle parts together but the hardware cloth, but when put together with the back, and then the front, it will be more than solid enough.  I'd like to put it together here in the garage but then weight would be an issue.  I'm using a pallet on top of the trash bins as a work table, the height works out nicely for my back.

Once more, I was late to remember the camera so I only got a few shots when I was almost done for the day, shortly after my wife got home.  I completed the back, both sides and the middle piece.  I still have no plans for the front doors, I'm thinking of something solid, but I just haven't thought about it too hard and probably won't until I have it in the back yard.  I will have to have a top in place because I'll need to have the hinges attached before it is placed in the corner.  The top will look much like the back, I believe.  All the hardware cloth will eventually be faced with trellis, for form and function, except the interior piece.

It is now 69F degrees (but 81% humidity) and we are about to open the windows for the first time in ages.  I'll have to have them shut again probably by midday tomorrow for who knows how long again.  Whatever happened to moderation?  Why does everything have to be so extreme these days?

Vacation, Day Three

The only thing to note is that it was finally raining when I woke up.  We got over an inch of rain from one of those "isolated showers" they always tease us with on the news.  Still, less than an inch and a half since the beginning of June.

Grandmas and Vacation, Day Two

Grandma L, 93

Grandma W, 86

My wife and I went to see my grandmothers on Saturday.  I'm late posting about it but it slipped my mind with all the projects I was looking forward to this week.  They are both very old, 86 and 93, and wondering what they are still doing here.  Kind of sad, but we were happy to spend time with them when we could on Saturday.  Love you both, Grandmas!

Now on to day 2 of my vacation.

This is morning it was already over 80F degrees and humid, but the show must go on.  I went about removing the old edging by neighbor Dave's fence.  It was hot, but I had shade on my side, at least until noon or so.  I went at it slowly, to not overheat and being very mindful of my back.  I forgot to take any 'before' pics, but I found some old pics from my photo album that kind show the way it looked (,thanks a lot OCD).  Most of this job was very low to the ground and with my back and knee I opted for dragging a chair along with me everywhere.  I'm a bit tired and sore now, but it was worth it.

The fenceline requires some kind of edging due to the ground level being a few inches above the sidewalk on neighbor Dave's side.  The old edging was, well, old, and over the years has been pushed around by whatever forces to resemble somebody's terrible, uneven teeth. 

Here are a couple old pics of the fenceline in the background, sorry I forgot to get better ones today.


For blogger's slideshow click on the pic, for full size, right click and open in new tab or window.





And the new look fenceline today, below.  I'm not sure how Dave will like it but I don't think he's worried about it too much.  To prevent the buckling and leaning this time, I dug down trying to find the edge of the sidewalk so I could insert a 2x4 ripped in half along that edge and then the edging would have support and hopefully remain much straighter. Well, sidewalks sink and tilt, but generally it worked out. All the dirt I dug up was bone dry. I was able to put some back as fill along the new edging, but much was distributed wherever I could around the yard.

Now, I did find a use for much of that old edging.  In the back corner of the yard where Kate started some cone flowers last year, there is the same edging along the back several feet of the fence.  I was able to extend it along the fenceline and up and around the front of the area to make it look like a proper flower bed.  At right is how this area looked on June 2 (note: we've only had about 1/3 and inch of rain since this pic was taken).  Below is how it turned out.  I think, considering the age and condition of the edging, it looks rather well.

This post is longer than I usually like on my front page, but, well, I guess it's my blog and I'll post what I want to!  All the pics I took this morning are dumped after the break.