Scoakat's Blog

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Happy Halloween 2022, and Wood

I'm not really a holiday person but for taking advantage of the occasional paid days off work, but of all the holidays I like Halloween the best. It has the most fun imagery and characters, with the least apparent religious connections.

I wore the same mask as I did last year since these are still Covid times, and again it went over pretty well with the few trick or treaters that came by. We had over 400 pieces of candy to hand out, after our own nibbling the last few days. We waited to get candy so we wouldn't get into it, but we buy the candy we like so what else would happen? We expected lots more kids to come by this year than last, but that was far from the case as we only got a dozen or so. Leftover candy will go in the freezer.

I had bought a pumpkin for the first time in maybe 20 years, and carved it with the classic jack-o-lantern face. And I used a sharp kitchen knife, just as I used when I was a kid, and I still have all my fingers. Later, after I bought this one, I saw the lumpy gray ones for sale that you don't normally see. I like the look of them, maybe a bit spookier, so next year I'm going to have to keep an eye out and get one of those if I can.

And for the 5th year in a row (skipping 2020) I put the mummy in the front corner windows. I kind of like it, and it's a good decoration for a few hours while the kids come around. At the same time I bought the mummy I bought a couple window cling film decorations but it's always been too cold to try to put them on the door windows in years past, but the weather was very good for Halloween this year so I finally got them out and put them on the front storm door. It was only 2019 when we had several inches of snow for the holiday and the other years we've been colder than what we've seen this year so far. And our immediate forecast is rather favorable, too.

Favorable enough weather for weekend fires for some time yet. Fresh load of firewood after the break!

Mom's Ramp

Our weather, starting yesterday and going through the weekend to Monday, is going to be very nice with temperatures in the 70's ºF, and that's real good for us in October. Because of that, it's an ideal weekend to get all the yard work done that we can before winter. I'll still have leaves to deal with and then cleaning the gutters, but pots, plants, gardens, the water hose and compost all were tended to today before the snow and freeze comes to stay and temperatures make outside work more a bit more miserable. I planned ahead this week and took Friday off work to take advantage of the weather and to see my wonderful and only sister. I'd been planning to go down to my Mom's new place again this weekend but my sister was going to be there Thursday, overnight until about midday Friday, so a good excuse to go down to Mom's a day early to see her and still have two days to do everything stated above and a whole lot more here at our place. My delivery had to be ready to go.

It took a couple hours of work in the garage every day starting early last weekend and after work every day this week (at my pace, I enjoy the process), but the ramp for my Mom's step down into the garage finally got finished on Thursday evening and loaded into the car for the next morning's road trip. I think it turned out well, or as well as it could with this wooden design of mine. The rails are good for helping balance, but I stressed they are not monkey bars. I told her if for any reason she decides she doesn't like it then I'll get her the one I found on Amazin made out of aluminum, but I think she knows I like these kinds of projects and it's more personal if I made it. But this is really just me and my worrying, I know it will work very well for normal use and she seemed very pleased with it.

It was very nice to see my sister and meet her new boyfriend. I say new because this was the first time I met him but they've been seeing each other for over a year now and things seem to be getting pretty serious. He's a very nice fellow and I liked him a lot, so I hope it works out for her - and them. I especially appreciated how nice and helpful he is with our mother, and I don't say that lightly. Anyway, between us all we got Mom's list of chores knocked out pretty easily and we were able to go out to lunch before a few last touches, then we all went on our way and left Mom to maybe have a nap or enjoy regular tv again finally after the move, or whatever the hell she wants to do. As I left I noticed her neighbor, who seemed to be cleaning out his very full garage, was closely watching our activity. I'll have to ask Mom if there was a conversation after we left. Or maybe I'm just being protective and nosy. But I may still ask!

It's also a much easier drive now for me now, though a bit longer for my sister who is coming from Illinois. The worst part of my drive is the Beltline right here in Madison, especially on weekdays, since we live on the opposite side of town than where I have to leave town. I might have to figure out some different way to get out of town without going on that crowded, dangerous highway, but it will be back roads and take longer, for sure. In my older age and now working from home for quite some time, I just hate too much driving and traffic, and now, especially, driving in traffic. (Cue the old Mr. Magoo intro,..) "Traffic" in this contexts means busy, crowded, bumper to bumper sometimes, across 2 to 4 lanes of hell. All depending on your tolerance, of course.

If you're interested, pictures of the whole build process are after the break. Commentary added in the captions for context and explanations. For much of the build the garage door is shut because of the cold, though it was always daylight when I worked on it. I have a small heater in the garage that helped some, but I'm glad it wasn't colder or later in the year. Also thank you to my lovely wife who helped me with all this whenever I needed her without complaint.

First Snow 2022, Ramp Talk

We got our first snow of the season this morning, and some more about mid-day, I think. I snuck out and got this picture, but I was too busy with work to notice if it got whiter out. It was all gone this afternoon, of course. The next couple days are going to be cold with freezing possible, but the weekend is supposed to be really nice for October, so I will be busy working outside or down at my Mom's all weekend.

The ramp project is going well, pretty much according to plan but plans evolve. Getting the angle at the bottom is tough, but I don't want it to be a trip hazard. And the posts for the rail are higher up the ramp because they need something to bolt to so I'm thinking of looking for some kind of bracket for a third post. You'll see what I mean soon.

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Last Tiger Lily, Ramp Project

I did this last year, too, but I'd been watching the last tiger lily to see if it would open, and happily it did. There are plenty of fall-blooming flowers but tiger lilies aren't really one of them. Still, this last, little lily was able to complete its lifespan before the inevitable.

Today is cool, windy and it rained a little this afternoon, thus all the leaves that have freshly fallen. Cool and wet enough after work that I took my half-hour after-work walk on the treadmill for the first time. I started at 1.6 mph, quickly going up to 1.8 and by the time I was done, 2 mph. Still a little awkward, but I think that will get better the more I do it.

I talked to neighbor Jane, and she says she was told they probably won't remove the stump until this time next year, so she found it odd they marked the utilities already. But it is municipal work, meaning they keep their crews busy. Whether it's leaf pickup, yard waste pickup, tree trimming, plowing snow or whatever else they have to do, if there's not one task to keep them busy enough then they move on to the next, and weather decides a lot. It doesn't really matter to me how long it takes, I'm just watching the process.

My Mom moved closer recently, back to the town we lived in for my formative years. A smaller place, one level, and less than half the drive I had before to see her in Iowa. It sounds like she's been reconnecting with many old friends, relatives and acquaintances, so she's had lots of company already and moving day was just last week. I was down there to see the place and help her with a few things last weekend, and there is still more to do.

I mentioned her new place is one level, and is pretty much zero entry but for a step down into the garage. She's 75 so doesn't move around quite as she used to and asked me if I could build her a ramp. I agreed, of course, so took a few measurements and I've been planning the build. This week I'll have to get a few pieces of wood and some hardware, otherwise I have most of the wood and tools ready to go. A miserable afternoon and my counterpart has been out so far this week so work has me a bit frazzled and so I haven't gotten everything I need yet, but surely before Friday so I can get started building that day or Saturday. Best case scenario, I get it fully built on Saturday and delivered Sunday morning, but we'll see how it goes. It's only 6 1/2 inches, but a ramp - with handrails - will make it so much easier and safer for her. She'd asked me to do projects for her when I was much younger and I'd normally avoid it if I didn't know how to do it. Now, I'm older, wiser, have a bitchin' set of tools and the internet. I'm looking forward to building this for her and, of course, I'm sure I'll share it here.

Friday, October 7, 2022

Early October This-And-Thats

It's jacket weather today, light jacket. The air becomes crisp though the sun shines. There's a bit of a breeze, but that's supposed to drop off in a couple hours. I'm counting on it as I'm planning on a fire and having a friend over.

Markings showed up around the tree stump in front of neighbor Jane's. I'm not sure exactly what the colors mean, but interesting how they're so close to the stump. I hope the stump-grinding crew is careful.
The artificial intelligence that creates 'art' from your input had made the news a couple weeks ago. I finally played around with it last night, and it's pretty neat but I want to play around with it more and get more creative with my input. You have to create an account, but you can use your google account. Check it out here. If I get it to create something really cool or unusual I'll share it here sometime.
I'd kept forgetting to mention it, but the blog emails finally stopped going out around the beginning of August. I know many who read via the emails may not make the effort to come to the site to read, but I hope they do. I never found a similar service for free, but TinyLetter is an interesting option. It's more like a newsletter you sign up for, so I'd have to create that. Maybe paste the blog into it or, more likely, send one out once a month or so with links to my posts. Everything and nothing is on the table still, it depends on the effort I want to put forth.
I found poop in the back yard again today, and I don't have the trail cam back there. I had it back there for a few weeks and all it caught was a whole lot of squirrel activity, no pooper. Right now, it's on neighbor Jane's fence across from the back door, close to the ground. My thought was to see what could be coming into the back yard down the driveway side, plus security for the garage and back door. I've not checked those images and video yet.
We had rain on 8 weekends in a row until last weekend. Not washouts, but at some point every weekend. And the porch roof started to leak a bit onto one of the new ceiling tiles. I do have extra tiles but a little white spray paint will probably fix it fine, I did that to some of the old tiles more than once. Several years ago I got up there and sprayed some of that flex seal stuff where the porch roof meets the house. The porch is not the house, certainly not built to code, and will get replaced someday so we don't want to spend much, if any, money fixing it up. So I crawled up the ladder a few days ago and gave it another good coat of flex seal. Hopefully that will last a few more years now.
The Green Bay Packers play in London on Sunday morning, 8:30 a.m. our time so I think 2:30 p.m. there? The last NFL team to play a game internationally because they are one of the smallest markets so didn't give up a home game before and no other team would give up their home game against the Packers because their fans could fill any stadium ($). Being one of the most popular teams, Packer fans travel well and are located all over the place, here and the world. My wife is planning a fancy breakfast for us for the game and I'm really looking forward to it. There's a lot I should get done later that Sunday, but I'm just going to enjoy the unusual morning game and we'll just have to see what happens.

I've been thinking lately that I want to post less more often. Less words and topics in one post, maybe. It's a thought, anyway. Have a good weekend, everyone.

Hasn't that wind died down yet?

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Rambling and New Stuff

Things have seemed a little busy around here recently. A couple larger purchases and gearing up for the end of the fiscal year at work. Football has begun so I have games I like to watch every weekend, and some weekdays. Outside chores are beckoning as the weather continues to cool and this coming month will be time to get a good start, but really the weather will dictate and it's still too early for much yet.

Out in the back yard the woodpile is getting smaller, (not quickly but I hope to get another load delivered before the end of October), the walnuts are piling up in the corner and their litter is all over the yard thanks to the squirrels. I don't have the count handy right now, but it's not turned out to be so many as I thought it would be.

There is nothing to report on the stump in front of neighbor Jane's, but I still think they may get it removed yet this year. I actually used the city website to report a couple private property trees in the area that made the sidewalks impassable, and on our walk yesterday we noticed both trees had been trimmed. I'm tall, so still have to watch out in some areas where we walk, but these two were pretty bad and worth reporting.

Four years already? It seems that every 4 years I have to get a new computer, or at least since 2014 now. Two or three months ago we had a very short power outage, just a few seconds, three separate times in about as many days. Each time the computer was on and it took a lot of time for it to come back to life. The last time it wouldn't even turn on for hours after. This prompted me to finally buy an uninterrupted power supply, and one just a bit bigger than what I need. Now if the power goes out the computer and monitors will run off the battery for 45 minutes to an hour, but I have it set to shut down 5 minutes after the power goes out and doesn't come back on. Anyway, I sat down one day and hit the space bar to wake it up. The screen came on for half a second then it was off. The computer just shut off abruptly. Again I went through the process of watching the computer piece itself together after not shutting down properly. I believe I ordered another computer with a day or two of that incident. I went through that tedious new computer setup process last weekend and am now humming along again.

Another big purchase was a treadmill so we can continue to walk when winter comes and it gets much easier to be sedentary. My wife has used it a few times so far, even for jogging. I've tried it a few times and I need to get used to it. The first time I tried really threw my equilibrium off, but that did get better on the next short tries. Still, I prefer to walk outdoors so will mostly continue those daily walks until weather forces me in.

So now we have two pieces of exercise equipment in the basement, side by side so we can both exercise at the same time. For regular reader's perspective, from this angle the washer and dryer are behind and the cat drawer and stairs are on the left. This quarter of the basement has, from left to right, the furnace, my basement workbench, the chest freezer and the kitchen gadget/cookware overflow shelf. Also the brightest part of the basement, for sure on sunny days. No, not a finished basement, but still good, useful space.

I wanted to get some of this written before the weekend gets here as I think we may be busy again. Hopefully a few fires in the near future, I want to get the wood down to next to nothing before ordering more, and it usually gets here within days when ordered. It hasn't been unusual in recent years to enjoy a fire right up to the winter solstice, and the autumnal equinox just happened recently so that helps my perspective - plenty of time for fires yet.

Cheers, everyone. Have a great upcoming weekend and may all your sports teams win. (Mine, too!)

Friday, September 16, 2022

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.

Vacation, Rain, Birthday, and More Rain

I got a start on my vacation list after work on Thursday, getting the back steps fully power-washed and some of the driveway. I was going to finish the power washing after work on Friday but the end of the garden hose popped off, so I took that as a sign that I was meant to relax that evening. In the morning I took a trip to the big box DIY store, fixed the hose and completed the power washing. The steps needed a thorough wash this year and once the wood has dried this week I'll apply a water seal. I've never really power washed the driveway before, but the low parts down by and around the garage were looking pretty filthy with just dirt from rain and standing water over the years, but looks a lot better now.

That was done on Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon the Badgers played, and lost, and the rain moved in later that night. Sunday, the Packers played, and lost, while it rained continuously all day long. We did make a trip out for lunch before the game, but it was a miserable day for a birthday (55 this year). While today, Monday, the rain has let up some but still a very cool, damp, and dark gray day again. Makes it hard to get much motivation to do anything with weather like this, but the forecast is looking better for the rest of the week so hopefully I can start my vacation week properly tomorrow.

Not sure what day yet, but I do want to have at least one evening this week for relaxing by the fire. I last had one the prior weekend and made dinner out there with our, well, I've heard them called different things, but little pie irons for camping to cook on the coals. I burned the crap out of the first one, of course, but then made a couple perfectly cooked ones. Overall, more work, mess and bother to cook this way, but it had been a very long time so was fun just the same. There is also a bigger view of the sky over the house now. Not so long ago there were 3 trees there, now just one.

I didn't know that praying mantis lived in Wisconsin, but per Google they can be found here in the summer months, growing up to two inches including wings. We had this one on our front window screen all day Saturday, from early morning until we shut the windows at night. Not sure if it was resting after a big meal or what, but the rains that came that night surely made it move on to a more secure location. And this one was at least 4 inches long. I don't remember ever seeing one here before, so was interesting to watch and check on that day.

Well, tomorrow is a new day and we should see the sun and the temperature should come back up to shorts and t-shirt weather. Most of my vacation to-do list is outside chores, and I need a good day to lift my spirits after the last couple.

Lastly, my condolences to my UK friends on the passing of the Queen. In a world where public scenes and boorish behavior has become normal, she was always the picture of quiet dignity. We need more of that again.

Thursday, September 1, 2022

Squirrel Eviction

One of my neighbors got evicted yesterday morning, And rather rudely evicted, at that.

A crew from the city showed up yesterday morning to remove the tree in front of neighbor Jane's house, as we knew they would eventually. They made short order of it, too, arriving around 9 in the morning and finished by 1:30 in the afternoon - with an hour lunch break. This crew had an extendable grabber with a saw, so they just had to grab a branch, cut it off, then bring it down, all with a remote control. While they made quite a mess out there, unavoidable, they also cleaned it up very well, too.

After trying to determine how old it was when I posted about it last I had been planning on going out there when they were done, brushing off the sawdust and getting the cross section wet to better see the rings. Then I wanted to get some good, clear pictures so I could enlarge them on the computer and get a count. Our house was built in 1947, so I was thinking the tree was probably planted right about that time, give or take a couple years.

Anyway, I was working all day out of view of the tree while my wife was off taking care of her dad, so I only got up and grabbed a few pictures here and there. Neighbor Jane is retired so sat on her front porch and watched the whole thing. When it came time to bring the big trunk down I took a few minutes away from work and walked out to watch and talk to her.

Once it fell, both our jaws dropped as we gasped at the sight of how hollow it was.

If we had known this sooner the tree would have been reported and removed long ago. Scary to think of a tree that big falling on anyone's house. I'm sure we've all seen similar on the news before, and I'd really rather not have to go though that if at all possible. But, you can't always spend your time worrying about what might be or happen, either. We still have neighbor Dave's tree, same kind of maple and likely the same age but passed the city arborist's muster, I guess. We'll enjoy our last remaining big tree in front of the house while we still can.

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Latest LIVE Listening Pleasure 40 - ZZ Top

I can't remember the last time I bought a ticket and saw a band play live, but it may have been Alice Cooper in July 2019. That's over 3 years ago. Now, I've not gone out to see bands as much the last several years (as I've been getting older), then the pandemic kept me away even when shows still happened during the last few years, until now. ZZ Top has been around since 1969 so time is running out, for them and many of the great bands that have been the soundtrack to our lives.

I was almost late as I was thinking it started at 9 p.m. but it actually started at 8, so the first band was playing when I got there. I jumped in line right away to get a t-shirt, and by the time I got to my seat the opening band was pretty much done. That's okay, I couldn't tell you the name of the band now without looking it up. The show, at the Sylvee here in Madison, was not sold out, but was a decent size crowd even with much of the standing room upstairs pretty empty. And the demographics were similar to Alice Cooper, fans from 8 to 80 (or so). The changeover between bands was pretty quick as ZZ Top has a pretty simple stage setup, and they started playing right about 9 o'clock.

ZZ Top - I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide

Their set was pretty efficient, and the same 16 songs they've been playing for at least the last few shows. A lot of catchy tunes from the first album through their 80's heyday hits and more. (My video for Sharp Dressed Man & Legs is here.)

ZZ Top - Tube Snake Boogie

It was an expensive evening, for sure, but I'm still glad I went to see another band that I haven't seen yet and may not get another chance. They played for about 80 minutes, whereas I would expect a bit more from a headliner normally, but again, they've been around for quite some time. The show was tight, efficient, and pretty much no-frills as I would expect from ZZ Top. I left halfway through their last song, La Grange, so I didn't get to see the confetti (or what ever was in the tubes behind the speakers) go off for the finale. I had to park on the top floor of the ramp and wanted to beat the rush rather than wait in line to leave. Also, I did have to work early in the morning, after all. But overall, a good night and I'm glad I went. Hopefully more shows will come through town soon that I'll want to see.

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