One year ago today: June 21, 2017, the Rebel in Winter Haven.
Five years ago today: June 21, 2013, my hero, Johnny Cash.
Nine years ago today: June 21, 2009, warrantless searches, what a coincidence?
Random years ago today: June 21, 2015, Father's Day flat = $780.
Happy summer solstice. It was a morning meeting in the grueling heat as we went over the thousands of dollars that still need to be committed to this project, the all-American business. We have taken every conservative measure we know, even digging through the barn to find parts we can use. For example, I found the box of robot club switches to install the now-required battery cutoff. And the trailer hitch is just the bumper part, the stem with the 1-7/8” ball is extra. We only found the stem, but I have the ball from the cPod. No matter how they talk, nobody gets into this business from scratch cheaper than us, and we’ve already gone through $2,300. There isn’t even any place to get a straight answer how much the paperwork will cost, it’s as if they purposely make that a swamp.
We also found boxes of metal signs, like this “No Trespassing” model normally reserved for Texas target practice. We found old Coca-Cola wall menus the kind you push in the plastic letters for pricing. And the idea of display cases may be quite a good one. Additionally, there were boxes of Daisy BB guns in perfect working order, still in the original cardboard boxes, heavily faded mind you. This would be a paradise for some kid, but times being what they are, most of these childhood treasures sat there for some seventy years now. Some of it took a while to identify, like specialty drill bits, and what appear to be a set of solid brass third-floor hotel door knockers, like you see in the old movies.
Also in focus was the developments with the housing society. They told us the good news early last month, but the begin payment date is July 1 and no news since. Except to say they want us to sign some papers in Tampa. We’ll need the address, plus we don’ t know if this will stop the lawyers or if we get another lender than Ditech, not known for being friendly toward people who stand up to them.
Industrial grinder.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.
That door. That pre-hung door, see exciting photo. Took me all afternoon. Nothing went like the diagrams or examples. Stand the private side of the door so the frame is flush with the wall finish. Plumb the hinge side with shims and tack in place with 2-1/2” finishing nails. Square the knob side with matching shims, tack in place. When door swings shut properly, countersink the nail heads and go have a beer. Yeah, well everything measured out perfectly. But the reality was the door was to be square, flush, and level. Pick any two.
Mind you, I did get a lot of the piddley jobs done while taking breaks to figure the next step on the door. I patched all the remaining drywall access holes, sanded the rough patches, remudded where I’d left things too shallow, and in general, spent as much time as could be found on the air-conditioned side of the door. That’s a 6,000 BTU unit in that 120 square foot room, so it keeps it where it does the most good on a day like this. Soon the summer afternoon rains will start, that makes it possible to continue into the evening after the obligatory siesta.
I sent pics to the crowd that gives me the most useful advice and they like the grey color. Dark colors tend to make interiors feel cooler, they say. Okay, I’m going out for an extra coffee, the shop closes at 8:00PM. Maybe I’ll carry on and go check in on Twood. His phone is still on the Fritz. Agt. R assures me there is nothing to moving that water heater three feet, but I more looked at it than anything else this afternoon. What’s the worst I could do? Break one of the copper lines, but hey, I can solder anything. I just have to work up the nerve to move it. The electric cable has enough slack in it to just swing it over.
Then, this bass solo hit me. It’s a tune in that Hillary Duff movie, but it can be inverted. That’s what I call the arrangement where the guitar plays the chord pattern and the bass does the melody. I used to listen to it, I believe it is called Hungarian Dance #5, maybe #6. I’ll know the moment I read the sheet music. Later, it is dance #5. It’s one of those catchy lines that does the job. So I stopped in at the old club later, probably too late since there were only barflies left. The deadest place in town. So I livened it up by writing a few letters, longhand. And a dissertation on unsalted butter. Why they always have a big rack of it, but so few people buy it. It has to do with baking, where salt adds an unwanted flavor. I can’t explain why such an unimportant nothing got me thinking, but maybe I needed the time off?
Yes, I searched Hillary Duff. Now 30, slimmed down, divorced, and dating a drummer. I admit there is a pattern to all this. But it is a better pattern than what I’ve seen elsewhere. If I had my druthers, the standard life of a musician would still appeal to me beyond any alternative. Maybe I’d just rather be divorced from a lady with talent than the alternative. Now, is Duff really trimmed down, or is it you know? Is it natural or financial? I’d give a lot to meet someone again with her talent. I’ve learned the hard way you cannot form a band with a married man or a divorced woman, but it’s more a lesson I keep relearning. Because you are also forming a band with their family.
ADDENDUM
I got me a DVD starring Hillary Duff, purportedly about how a small town girl made it big in music. It could be equally billed as a coming of age yarn. Like most “rock” videos, it lacks realism to the extent I never identified with any part of it. Can you imagine, in my family, being sent to a music school at age 16? I didn’t even know such places existed, though I imagined they had them in Europe. Nor could I understand why someone who had talent needed to go study at a school. Then again, I thought talent was necessary back then, boy was I disillusioned. But just the idea that a kid who showed an interest in music being sent to a summer camp full of kids of similar age, expense paid. I understand, mind you, that this type of plot is needed to sell books and movies.
The video is cheerful, and mercifully goes easy on the ethnics, something you expected every movie to be in your face with back then. Later, I got the Wiki on Hillary. She’s 31-ish now, and definitely lost the baby fat. As usual, she got herself involved with band members and squandered most of her youth on one of them. Now, says Wiki, she is involved in a relationship with a drummer. Sigh, now you begin to glimpse the importance I place on playing in a band. How else does a guy like me even come close to a Hillary Duff? I get stuck in bands with grandmothers, whose daughters very quickly and very often figure out they are not my type. I like the way I worded that.
Return Home
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
