October 20, 2022

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 20, 2021, Cash & Hot Girl.
Five years ago today: October 20, 2017, Sergio?
Nine years ago today: October 20, 2013, I brake for reptiles.
Random years ago today: October 20, 2007, if there was one . . .

           The unexplained silence from Harbor Heights is explained. By dear friend Alaine got her back yard torn away and some damage to the sea wall. The houses are okay in the newer subs, as they are built to hurricane code. But that doesn’t apply to attachments like this large screened pool in the back yard. Screens are a must in mosquito season. This aluminum frame didn’t stand a chance. The palm trees got a haircut, as well. Here, I thought losing 16 feet of fence was bad. I may drop over to the coast next week to see if I can help, though I’m not much for heavy lifting any more.

           Being the earliest up, I took over breakfast duties. I can see the headlines of 2222, saying that although he passed away in the late Spring of 2025, the culinary community and neontologists still marvel at his ability to produce such perfect arepas, rice, and chicken gravy to perfection. Even his young wife, who later married a Canadian baron from Thunderbay, never revealed his secret ingredient. Except to say it was “not masala” while hotly contesting rumors that she was 23 years his junior. Most others insist he was an unsung bass hero well before his time, which has not yet arrived.

           It’s colder than a you-know-what, so I’m inside most of the morning. I’m dumb but not that dumb, and the season means she will warm up in the sun. What to set about, as I’m already mostly packed up to head south. Let’s check the news feeds, shall we? The Washington Post published a study that there has been a three-fold increase in the number of men under 30 who have never had sex. Looking at their top-knots, this does not surprise me. They have what are called “isolationships”. And if you like Internet humor, here’s my favorite of today.
           The World Health Organization has determined dogs cannot contract COVID-19. That means all the dogs held in quarantine have been released. For clarity, WHO let the dogs out.

           In further deadbeat news, Starbucks is closing a location due to unsavory clientele on the sidewalk outside. It’s a laugh to me because that is the entire yup-yup they brought upon themselves. The ultra-hip hangout for those without “traditional” employment. The only surprise is how long it took Starbucks to gear in. I’ve always held it against Starbucks that they put most of America’s mom & pop coffeeshops out of business. And did it through advertising, since their coffee is not that great and taking advantage that other shops did not have a huge budget for that purpose.

           Here’s the weird new neighbors across the way. Big Mickey balloon and a no trespassing sign. Six cars in the driveway, rent around here is $1,800 per month, and they never leave the house. But far be it from me to notice anything.

Picture of the day.
Bismarck, ND.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           The section of fence in focus is done. It’s a given the effort will be unsung, I quit by dark, though I had time to slice down twenty of the more aggressive bamboo stalks. Recall how I’d trimmed them back to the fence, when was that, in 2019? They all came back and I have one huge pile in the yard. It’s ready to burn fast, since after all it is a grass, not a tree. I cut the stems, which don’t fall because of other stems. They get sheared off at ground level, then pulled out one by one.

           Sony burns me again. We discovered a way to get the dog out for a real run, something neither the Reb or I can manage. At best we can walk him fast but you know it isn’t the same. There’s a long corridor of open grass between the subdivisions with heavy trees on both side. If the Reb goes to the far end and calls the big dog, I can take him off his leash and away he goes. Full blast like a rocket and does not appear to have figured out there are not doggie treats when he gets there. We ran him three times and he was finally tuckered. But, that Sony camera will not re-use deleted file space. You have to reformat the whole card, losing all your settings and folders. So you’ll have to wait for the show. Meanwhile, here is the tired out Chooks with Sammy way in the background.

           Next on the agenda is more ladder work. This dramatic photo is not the Halloween haunted house. It’s this place with a noise problem. Inside that dorm or gable thing is the audio recording studio. Off to the right side is a tree limb. In the wind, it grates against the aluminum siding. And it is thirty feet up there, above the utility wiring. I can’t do that myself. While I think it gives her recordings a nice native sound touch, she’s not so keen on it. The neighbor on the west has a big enough ladder that he borrowed from another neighbor who forgets who he borrowed it from. I think between us we may be able to saw that limb with a chain saw borrowed from, you guessed it, another neighbor.

           Don’t go thinking this is some gravy train because I assure you everybody pulls their weight. Sometimes not intentionally, as it turns out the fence indeed belongs to yet another neighbor. And I just spent $40 in hardware getting it mostly fixed up. After this, next time it needs anything it will be replacement. Oddly, the poles are still solid as they are set in concrete. The pickets are also in reasonable shape so I suspect the rails were made of poorly treated lumber. That fence got me to stay on another week, meaning it is not totally a burden.

           Testing the Yeti has continued and it is going to be fine in the van. It will have to be removable for now, but it if keeps up, I may look at one of the bigger units rated for operating a household. With a little experience wiring circuits, I think I’ll make up a supply panel and see if I can standardize any parts like sockets when I get back. The Yeti has a number of design features very well planned out. One I like is a switch with a pilot light for each bank of outlets. You can disarm any you are not using so no energy is wasted keeping that second hot. The readout remains inaccurate so instead you learn to interpret what it displays.

ADDENDUM
           The locals say the weather is cold, so I’m imagining nothing. It brings back my old conditions, you know one of my first jobs was piling lumber at the mills in Montana and it can get twenty below. It’s another forty years before you notice that mild ache when you get off shift has become semi-permanent. Well, that’s me these days. Mind you, fixing that fence was more exercise for me than all the other guys around here combined except the dude across the street who is still in his 30s

Last Laugh