One year ago today: February 21, 2018, we never fight.
Five years ago today: February 21, 2014, the total cost.
Nine years ago today: February 21, 2010, can barely waddle.
Random years ago today: February 21, 2007, an unauthorized photo.
It is wasn’t for the ladder this picture could be mistaken for orientation. That is one of the larger tree limbs that came down this morning where it came to rest horizontally. Goodness, there was a house underneath all that overhang. The bad news is that pole saw didn’t work worth a twit, so only the branches accessible by ladder and my old electric were cut back. I’m going to salvage as much of this camphor wood as I can, but without a way to cut lumber, don’t expect anything fancy. Agt. R did most of the cutting, I did the dangerous part of guiding pieces away from the roof. Some of those pieces weigh hundreds of pounds.
These are colloquially called camphor trees because of the aroma when cut. After around two hours of this slippery, awkward work standing on the shingles, the aroma was dizzying and got into clothes, hair, nostrils, and eye sockets. If I ever need a siesta, it’s now. Estimated amount of total cut accomplished today: maybe 16%.
Which makes me wonder why I threw on another of that Cocoon series DVDs. The ones where the old people don’t age but keep coming back to Earth or something. The plot is predictable. Anyway, Walter Matthau never could act and the whole production is filmed on the cheap by scenes in jazz clubs and stale old venues that were already trite in my day. The same reason we still get “nostalgia” films with burlesque shows and vaudeville—they are cheap to film and the costumes are free. I only watched to the part where the one lady in her 60’s gets pregnant. Then I threw on a Rambo movie where he single-handedly defeats the Soviet Union. By comparison, at least that was believable.
To avoid confusion why I needed this break, cutting the tree limbs is heavy labor. This would be taxing work for men in their twenties. I was aerobic for two hours, which feels healthy but I can never forget to listen to my heart. Yes, I’ve told you I learned how to hear it. I see tree limbs though the proper term is logs by the time they are cut into three-foot lengths. This is hefty, thick, wet wood cut into semi-manageable 80 lb pieces. Each has to be carefully let down without hitting the roof, often from above shoulder height. A steady series of sun showers told us the rain was on the way so we had to proceed full speed, with maybe 30 seconds between each cut.
I sweated it out in full safety gear, but Agt. R could not work the chainsaw with gloves on. We had no pole saw because of the chain, described last month. We will attempt to sharpen the old one, good luck. Chainsaws beat axes any day, sure, the kind of work slicing up logs already in some cooperative position. On the other hand, we had to hold the saw often overhead, at arm’s length, and a few times one-handed on the left. This produces numbness, backache, sore kidneys, joint pain, and dust chips that get into every crevice. We repeatedly spelled back and forth with five or eight cuts or minutes, whichever came first.
Bloggable? You bet. I kept up with Agt. R who is 53, which I’m proudly okay to say. Just imagine my fatigue factor when I hit the sack tonight. I have to clear at least the logs off the front yard before sunset. It was kind of neat being up there as the chore proceeded. Once the worst branches are down, there’s a view. Parts of the yards are illuminated which have not see direct sunlight in thirty years.
Southern Iceland.
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I left an obvious mistake in the wall. The A/C cutout was constructed before that section of the house was leveled. After the fact, one edge of the new window sill is nearly a 1/2-inch lower. Why did I leave it? A number of reasons. Have a gander at this picture. Can you tell which edge is low? It’s on the lower right. Once the house got leveled, this uneveness appeared. Correcting it now would mean cutting through the drywall and cutting the jack stud. Hmmm, would you do that? Another consideration is the error is only really visible if you stand where normally you would not. There is no reason to stand against the new bathroom wall and it’s the obvious place to park a dresser.
It was unseasonably warm, and even hotter because of the liberal-biased media on the attack all day long. People by and large don’t even listen to the anti-Trump rhetoric churned out daily. The US media is horrifically left-wing. Here’s some facts for you. Left-wing groups and politicians receive ten times the print and Internet coverage than their opponents, collectively known as conservatives. Many times the question is asked how the pseudo-communist groups can get away with such inequities in America. The answer is precisely because America allows free speech. Without monopolizing the press, the lefties would have to dictate private opinions the way they do it elsewhere: via the military and secret police.
The left-wingers call themselves Democrats, not to be confused with Democratic, which they most definitely are not. After WWII, the last war Americans believed in, it began to emerge that the government had poured billions of tax dollars into corporations that were already wealthy and bloated. The public backlash was to vote in more and more representatives to keep the wealth distributed. Alas, although many political parties are allowed, the creeps in DC discovered that plugging for two parties was the best way to polarize voter opinion. So the Democrat party began to evolve by promising to “tax the rich”, something the poorest, dumbest resident could identify with. There are people stupid enough to think they’ll get a bigger share. The Democrats also pillory anybody who speaks up for Constitutional patriotism. It was amazing how well they accomplished all this until Trump arrived.
Now, every second or third sentence over the radio is how Trump just lost in 2020. Funny, because except for the radio stations, there is a quiet presumption that he is in for sure. Then his wife, then his sons. Regardless what the press is shouting, Trump is exceedingly popular with taxpayers, and that says most of it. Before you believe a word the liberals say, remember that they are the people who made it a “hate speech” for media to report true crime statistics. But you can always link to the FBI’s wanted posters and count the number of whites versus non-whites. Factoid: if violent crime in the US was segregated by race, white America has always been one of the safest societies in history.
There was also another politician of some sort “caught” in a raid on a massage parlor. Please, my overseas people, make no mistake about it. Most massage parlors in America are whore houses plain and simple. There were apparently dozens of people caught in the raid, but of course, the media is only picking on the politician. Or was he with the school board? Does it matter? The issue is not public morality, but political gain via a smear campaign. I’d like to see one of these people sue instead of resign. What people do in massage parlors is their business. There is also an expectation of privacy.
I’ve said before, while I don’t pay for sex, I recognize that for most men, that is the only variety they will every get. It didn’t help that the little wimp doing the loudest complaining was a political opponent with the worst whining, squeaky voice and self-moralizing weasel I’ve heard on the radio. I know, useless twits like that always get their turn. Ask Jerry Fallwell, or whatever that ass-clown’s name was. Anyway, the wimp seemed to be most focused on the prices the clients paid. It was $60 for a half-hour or $80 for a full hour. How he went on and on about that. Sounded more like he was pissed because he just found out he’d been paying more across town.
ADDENDUM
Research. After I’d cut the window sills and all the angles, I got to thinking the arrangement was too complicated. I went on-line until I found an answer. The sills are no longer slanted, like the ones I made. They are put in flat and an angled strip of wood is used to shed the water. My question was, if the sill isn’t slanted, what is to stop rainwater from clinging to the underside of the sill and getting into the siding that way? I found the answer. It’s physics.
Here’s an illustration of the technique. The top picture is the underside of the sill, showing the slot just back from the front visible edge. The loser picture is from the side. You see the slant where my finger points? The water runs down there but if, by capillary action, it tries to seep back toward the siding, it won’t get past that slot. Whoever thought of this, clever. Before I call it quits, the guitarist from Eagle Lake sent me his list. More to the point, he listed a few of his grievances and what do you know. I’m not the only one frustrated by the low caliber of Polk musicians. His top annoyances match mine. Multi-banders, hired guns, and prima donnas.
I went over his song list, 86 tunes. Twenty are already on my list and another fifteen I’ve played on stage. Another ten I’ve played at home, which I’ll get to in a moment, and the rest: some I’ve heard, some I haven’t, and some I hate. The important thing is that we could be playing in a week. Now, 86 tunes is a long list, which I know is normal if a guitarist cannot play the intros & breaks. But I can. He’s got eight major Neil Diamond hits. I’ve never performed them, but I’ve learned all the horn flourishes, tags, and fills on the bass. This is music I drastically over-play because I happen to like it. So yeah, I can do jaw-dropping versions of “Sweet Caroline” and “Forever in Blue Jeans”.
Now be realistic. There is only the standard one chance in 88 that this will fly. Mind you, it’s been around that number, though statistically that means nothing. He’s got a few old Johnny D tunes and many more where it seems he’s got the title wrong but I know them. The sad news is I can’t find my major music files.
