One year ago today: February 13, 2016, had Germany won . . .
Five years ago today: February 13, 2012, a favorite blooper.
Nine years ago today: February 13, 2008, Hewlett-Packard sucks.
Random years ago today: February 13, xxxx, WIP
MORNING
Told you, I poured another glass of powdered milk. Not meaning to start anything and you don’t need to try this at home, but I drank it. I still prefer it the way I make it, but at least it no longer tastes like blackboard erasers. How about that? I’m not switching to it, I’m only saying it doesn’t gross me out any more. Now, if only I could get it to that stage with tattooed fat single mothers. And did you see all the ugly ones trying to call down Ann Coulter? Ha, talk about stupid broads taking everything personal. We've already heard your glowing individual success stories and what wonderful human beings you are--we've read your ads in the w4m section. She’s talking about how your children WILL turn out.
It [the A/C unit] seems a bit crowded against the window, but once this is buttoned up with some siding, it is in the proper location as seen from the inside. Visible is the bedroom chandelier and right through the room to the matching window on the far end. That’s the window slated to move to the front of the house if things go as planned. Otherwise, it would look into the planned sunroom.
Now for a change of subject. Y’all want to know about how this place is working out for finances. Sure, I’ll tell you the facts, if not the figures. January was the first month, as you know, that I didn’t get walloped by some surprise outlay. The previous four months, it was always something, like the taxes or that tree in the back. Now, not counting such expenses, I bet JZ that I could operate the household on what he says is the unbelievably low cost of $25 per day. He says it has to be $100 per day, which from my point of view is more than most people in south Florida make.
It’s a friendly bet, and includes a budget for going out for a beer now and then, gas, newspapers, coffee, groceries, the things that make life worth living. Utilities are not included because we could find no basis for comparison. Ha, for that matter, his condo fee has no basis in reality. Totally corrupt board of directors but in Florida, who expects otherwise? In January, I made it, $21.64 per day. I shunned no expenses to keep it low, even though I know JZ does that. Because he never learned cutting expenses shafts you worse down the line when things catch up. Tell him, Theresa.
Halfway through February and I’m running just over the limit at $27.58. But I bought $43 worth of postage stamps and spent another $32 on musical gear. If those are removed, I’m at $21.36. This may seem a restrictively small amount to some big spenders out there, but a couple of things should be remembered. One, this is not the whole story. Obviously I have other cash to buy building materials and travel whenever I please, etc. That’s cash, guys, not credit cards. Two, I’m the guy that warned people thirty years ago to find a productive hobby or you’ll grow old convinced you have to spend big money for a good time. I think we all know people who think like that (never ourselves, of course) and it ain’t a pretty sight.
As for quality of life, I’ll compare that any time to any one. I’m not married, but nor am I paying child support or alimony. And I’m ex-phone company, so don’t anybody bring up the delights of married life. In fact, since I have a budget for going out, let me go look it up. Compare this with JZ, who reports to anyone who will listen, that when he goes out, which is often, he shells out an average of $80 per instance. Myself, here it is, when I go out, I spend an average of $21.
Note that this figure does not include the cost of chasing women, because JZ will do that and I won’t. His spending triples when females are present, mine does not change. But the figures ($80 and $21) include the costs of merely being present—it’s partly responsible for my quasi-famous statement that “doing nothing in Miami” costs $600 per month. Back to us. For example, where JZ plays billiards, I may play the jukebox. Worse, experience shows that when I get into a musical situation, I quickly begin to make money by going out. Remember Jimbos? That paid all my groceries, plus a restaurant meal most Sundays, and I think there was more than one year when my total outlay for alcohol was less than a thousand dollars. JZ did not learn to play that nice guitar I gave him so he no longer has the option.
And it’s far too late now. Recall the 10,000 hour rule. Hell, much less music, I have nearly that amount of stage time. So around me, you’ll need more like 30,000 hours or you will be eclipsed, and it’s not something I can shut off just because some other guy needs a break.
Yarbles sculpture.
(Those two little dents on some lower backs.)
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NOON
Nothing today but more work on the property. I sliced and painted up some more window decorations. I hesitate to screw down the subfloor until I give it a week, see if it moves on me. That floor reminds me of how long I’ve fallen behind on things I couldn’t do until the floor was fixed. There’s lots to catch up on anyway, like installing the final outlet in the bedroom, moving the outdoor light, installing an exterior outlet. And of course, fixing this window.
Here’s the opening with the window completely removed. A lot of the damage was from the window A/C. It was installed without any flashing or moisture protection. I’ve saved the rotten pieces and they are intact enough to fashion up duplicates. Note all the tools and such sitting on the ledge inside the window. This is why I didn’t want to get behind, now I have to move all that stuff when I go to finish the bedroom.
Careful as I was removing the windows, there were tiny wooden pieces and bracing blocks that came loose before I could figure out what they were for. It was neat seeing the room from a perspective that will never happen again, looking down into the interior from the ladder outside this soon-to-be ex-window.
While it was hot, I ducked into the library and read up the musician want ads. There was a band in Tampa advertising for a bassist for the 25th, so I glanced at their song list. Talk about obscure, it was like a rock band that tried to cover the lounge circuit. However, just the fact they were advertise for a bassist to play out such material by a week from Sunday tipped me off they were yet another “bass is easy” outfit, which explains why they can’t keep a bassist in the first place.
I recognized some of the droners, like Moondance, but the rest of the list drew blanks. I picked a few at random and they were all slow, many with drawn out intros, druggy 1970s style. But, I am a lounge musician at heart so I’ll keep on eye on what they do. It isn’t even real lounge music, rather the sort of music an aging rock band would think I lounge music. If I wasn’t busy that day, I’d be tempted to go have a look, as I have a peeve with bands that think a bassist is such a flunky he can learn their thirty-year-old set in twelve days. This, folks, is why bass players often quit without notice.
That was only part of the factor when I quit the five-piece. They not only would not play any country at all, they also had a pact that the bassist was not allowed any say in what music was chosen, although they had to eat crow a few times on that one. Selecting songs was a decision always made when I was not present and I was later informed of what the band would be playing. When the guitarist failed to learn some of the music they had chosen themselves, they started digging up anything he could play, and when they got to “Strawberry Fields Forever”, I balked. What, I never told you about that? Well, I told you parts of it.
It went together like this. With the new lady singer, the guys decided to play “Venus”, by Shocking Blue. The guitarists could not get that distinctive Em intro riff. Whell (that’s “well” with the “wh” sound) I was only too happy to say, “guitar is easy”. I picked up my six-string to show him that even I, the lowly bass player, could ace it. He got the message. He didn’t need to know I’ve been playing that riff since I was a pre-teen. He also failed to learn “Last Train”, as told elsewhere.
The point is, I felt rather than give up and flip to that asinine “Strawberry Fields”, that he should put more effort into learning those songs and he could eventually have played them. Whoa, too much work and too little talent. This is the sort of situation that I mean when I say I have never seen a Florida guitar player learn a new song properly from scratch. They are by and large such slow learners, they won’t even let somebody who knows show them how.
“In my teens, I was spokesman at a bicycle company.”
NIGHT
It got too dark to show the exciting window opening now covered with the tarpaper. I was able to keep the old window in one piece despite major parts falling off. Time to dissect the patient and find out what gives. All the putty is gone bad, once more there were no glazing points. Here’s a good picture of the job, you can make out details of how the building is framed, and the pieces of the window frame that came loose. I’m just going to put siding right over this rough opening, probably salvaged siding from when I put in the sun room. For now, nobody can see this from the street, so leave it.
The attic is not insulated yet. The floors and sides insulated allow that old and cranky A/C unit to keep the room cool on the lightest setting. At slightly larger than 12’ x 12’ this is one spacious bedroom for a cabin. Plenty of room for a desk and easy chair, a luxury I’ve rarely had in this life of renting. Moving these two windows together to catch the morning sun is going to be a treat—and it will add thousands to the value of the property. Of course, with what I’ve learned on that, I’ll be wanting to do the same to the other bedroom. That’s the side of the house, the way it sits on the lot, but the side that faces the street. It plain looks wrong and caused me to initially overlook this property.
That is, there is no “living room window” facing the street. Nor will there be, the sun room will be on the side of the building. You get a view of the back and neighbor’s yard. If you want to watch up and down the street, you go sit on the porch. What? No, I don’t have a porch yet. You have to wait a while, then go sit on the porch. Geez, how much comfort do you want?
ADDENDUM
This work is too demanding for me to do it commercially. The bedrooms are kind of a priority. You know how my demographic views that spare bedroom as old age security. The two rooms will each have their fine points. The large 12’x12’ in the back is quiet and sound-proofed, the soon-to-be 9’x12’ up front is more convenient, and from there you can see the street and front yard, the windows open directly to the porch area, and since the entry opens directly into the side of the kitchen, it’s a fairly private come and go as you please area.
Removing that window should have taken ten or fifteen minutes of light work. It took me an hour and a half. While not backbreaking, it was demanding enough that I landed flat on the sofa until nearly midnight. That means I didn’t go out for a brew, like heavy-duty construction workers always do. And I can’t crow about the lack of decent women, decent being partially defined as one who hasn’t made every mistake in the book. Yeah, a decent woman would still have a few mistakes left to make with me. Ha, got that, Theresa.
Last Laugh
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