September 13, 2008

           I got the basic materials for the sign. It will be black letters on a white background. The paint was an “exterior enamel” water based. The report back to Wallace is this paint has poor covering characteristics. Even when applied under ideal circumstances, it has a watery texture that stirs right to the bottom. This is an outdoor sign so we’ve decided to just apply as many coats as needed to get a smooth and protective finish. You can see the progress, even if the photos are a little underexposed in the new work area in the southeast wing.
           I was there to keep shop and test the new system. It works well enough, though Peggy’s computer is too slow even with 512K of new RAM. (It takes over two minutes to boot up.) It stays for now as I have nothing else to spare. Saturdays are always a good day to spend in the store because of the variety of people you meet. To be sure, some of them are looney-toons.
           JP’s old computer saves the day again. The video computer is bricked. While all this painting and wiring was underway, I put a pot roast in the oven. As explained to Wallace, I had never done this before. Lacking an exact recipe, we used the directions for cooking beef. The rules of this blog mean I have to tell you it was the best meal produced by us yet. It could be cut with a butter knife. We do not know if this was beginner’s luck.
           What is sure is that we will attempt larger meals thanks to Peggy bolstering the kitchen confidence around here. She called this afternoon with the invite to Thanksgiving dinner. She’s the chef so that means it is not too early to begin the planning. And I surely am an advocate of planning ahead.
           Don’t we all hate people who use Starbucks to hold their phony business meetings? The ones who talk even loud enough to hear at the next table? I went to the Barn to relax, which is about the only time I patronize Starbucks anyway. I was engrossed by a book on electronics and wound up staying there five hours. What can I tell you, if this town had better libraries I’d use them.
           A favorite is books about both new inventions and novel projects from existing materials. These have replaced the repetitious Popular Science and Popular Mechanics, while still respecting those publications for coming up with enough articles to keep going after all these years. Instead, I choose newer companies. The top contender for today was a fair ride powered by men pedaling bicycle gears. The kids whip around in harnesses while the old man gets his exercise.
           Joke time. This teacher says to the class, “I know one of you stole my purse from my desk. There was $100 in it. I promise if the purse is returned, I will not get angry and I will not punish the thief. Instead I will give ten dollars reward for the purse.”
           From the back of the room, a little voice says, “I’ll make it twenty.”