October 15, 2021

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 15, 2020, annual budget woes.
Five years ago today: October 15, 2016, a batbike excursion.
Nine years ago today: October 15, 2012, I remember that cabin.
Random years ago today: October 15, 2007, work-related speculation.

           I’ve got a bucket of roofing tar donated, but it seems to have separated. Any one know how to get it going again? The bottom layer is too thick to stir. This was motive enough to get up on the roof and inspect what needs doing. There are two spots that need attention and a third spot that is suspicious enough to get the treatment. The people who are moving away have a biker grandson who came over and helped out, donating a sheet of plywood that is not quite thick enough for flooring. But I’ve got a plan. This was the beginning of a very busy day.

           Next, the hillbilly, whose sister lives nearby somewhere, came over with a broken bicycle rim. Yes, I have the tools to repair that and the spokes, plus we get to work inside a comfortable shady shed. Pretty soon we are fixing everything, I sent him to look at the roof. He knows how to do that kind of work. It’s messy because wind-blown sand gets into everything and that means ant colonies under your shingles every so often.

           He’s a lot easier to work with than Agt. R because he knows the concept of pacing the chore and doing a good job no matter how long it takes. I asked him back on the weekend and maybe we can set up enough temp storage on that deck I built before the lumber crisis. That’s if we can find it under the kudzu. He can use the light work so I got him to clear out half the red shed. What a blast furnace in this heat wave. Some of the storage containers were not designed to last the five years, so we got in the van and drove around until we scavanged some, which gave me a chance to chat up the gal that works in the Lake Wales phone store.

           Another thing, he works quietly with just the radio on, so I was getting work done as well. Here is the box made for Agt. R’s dent repair tool. As usual, the boxes are roomy for the purpose and extremely over built for the task. This one was to test a new color of stain, called maple. I’’m not so sure, does that look like any maple tree you’ve ever seen. This is the final effect on ordinary pallet lumber. Yep, they look a bit like jewel boxes, until you get right up close. That latch is a window catch.

           Keeping at it, I got under the kitchen sink and traced out what the slow water problem was. I have no doubt there are problems in the supply line so I don’t want to look there until last. In case it was corrosion, I reamed the old iron pipe section and it was not bad. Hardly any rust.

I’ve got some flak about not singing, kind of an odd item for me. Because I’m singing for a profit I have not been bothering with Karaoke. Turns out I have a very small but expectant following which I wrote off as sudsy exuberance. Tell me to smarten up. Later in the day I measured out the various projects I’d like while I have cheap labor and let me tell you, the artificial controls on inflation are about to blast the lid off the container. I thus measured out space for more canned food, but the maximum I could save or keep is measured in weeks and we are in a war that could last years. Did I say war? Yes, it is them or us and they have made it that way.

Picture of the day.
Poisonous poke berries.
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           Back up on the roof to look at those tree limbs. That is going to be a dangerous job, but the hillbilly, I’ll call him Dave, says he will climb the tree and trim the limbs back in sections. I dunno, my insurance does not cover that kind of thing. On the other hand, he knows how to work. He scrounged me another piece of plywood so I’ve decided to throw it over the joists and make that temp storage happen. He’s still got the two big dogs, you remember Cash, and it’s not cheap to feed ‘em that size. I told him last year he should have learned guitar when I had the time to teach him the ropes.

           He knows the territory as well as Agt. R so I might ask if he can scrounged enough wood to make that storage shed. It’s the one task around here that would really change things for the better in a single day. Well not today, this is some kind of heat record. Even in the shade we went through three quarts of peach tea.

           Don’t underestimate the job of cutting those tree limbs. This photo shows one branch that begins twelve feet off the ground. Seen here, this is al least forty feet long and weights at least half a ton. If you don’t get them cut, they will eventually fall and smash your roof. For a break, I worked on the computers and am not at all happy with MicroSoft. It’s the same old, they keep “improving” things that don’t need it, but leave flaws that reflect incredible stupidity. For example, there is a thumbnail mode that will not display the pictures, just the icons. Another mode disables the select all feature. Solutions on-line are a bitch to find unless you can guess how some Redmond azz-clown worded the question.
           Moments later, I got it. Well, I think I did. I took out the aerator on the sink and did the old soak it in vinegar. There was no apparent problem but when I reassembled the faucet, which still has a slow leak, whatever I did solved the problem. Good, I would have been dismayed had it come to crawling under that section of the kitchen. Or did I just get lucky?

           By late in the day, “we construction workers” decided to go check out that pub that everybody says has great entertainment. Turns out that is only on Sundays. One thing about the millennial era is they’ve removed all shame about being stupid and leaving out details like that. I mean, I would tell the new guy they are one of the few clubs in existence that has entertainment, but not on Friday night. It’s a weird club anyway, but about what you’d expect in Lake Wales. It’s another Florida town with no population between the ages of 18 and 38.
           But it’s prime country music and I’ve got the managers phone number. Ha, I’d mentioned to Dave it was a business trip as well as cold beer time. He saw the approach the compliments, he said it was fantastic how I got everything needed without the gal even realizing I was seeking a gig. Smoothest he’d ever seen, says I could have asked her for anything. Maybe twenty years ago. I’ll contact the keyboard player and clear the path, as I’ve mentioned, his management style and mine have no overlap. Eight weeks later he has nothing, I get a gig within ten minutes of walking in the door. Who remembers the same problem with the Hippie since twenty years ago?

Last Laugh