Door Visitors

I had a strange visitor today.  Someone selling garbage collection service.  She asked how many bags of garbage I had per mnth.  I said "one"  She looked at me oddly and repeated the questin, emphasizing "month".  I laughed and said "really, one per month".  I don't think she believed me...

SO I asked if they would pick up one bag per month for $5.  That's what it costs me at the landfill.   She said weekly pickup was $42/month.  I laughed.

Then she said they could do bulk pickup for $30 per ton.  I pointed to my hauling trailer at the street.  She said I was very weird and left.  "Yes, yes I am" (a la Phineas and Ferb).  And I love it...

LOL!

Odd Remembrance

I was watching TV this evening, and saw a gas commercial.  One part involved putting a gas nozzle in the inlet part.  And I had a flashback to my first car.

My parents gave me a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville convertible for my 20th birthday (1970).  It was a complete surprise!  As a freshman in college, I wasn't allowed to park a car on campus (weird old rules), so there was little point in my having a car before.  And I was never a "car guy".  I just borrowed the family station wagon if I REALLY had to drive somewhere.  Although I did get to drive the Lincoln for special dates.

But anyway, I was presented with a card with a car key in it when I turned 20.  It was one of those shiny red or green duplicate keys from the hardware store.  I assumed it was for the station wagon.  I hemmed and hawed about what to say, because it didn't seem like much.  I mean, I could use the car when I needed to already.

But then they pointed out the living room window to a different car.  The Bonneville...  I almost fell over.  I was speechless.  It was a great gift!

Here's the funny part that the commercial reminded me of...

After a week, I needed gas.   I drove into a filling station (as we called them back then) and the attendant came around to fill it up (yes there used to be such people who actually filled your car with gas while you just sat in it).

He asked where the gas cap was.  Think about that for a moment.  He couldn't find the gas cap.  I had just automatically driven to the pump on the side of the station wagon gas cap.  I got out and looked.  There wasn't a gas cap on either side of the car!

Don't laugh, but we actually looked under the hood for a gas cap.  I'm serious.  The attendant finally brought his boss out to solve the problem.  He looked, laughed, and tilted the license plate down to reveal the gas cap!

It had a 26 gallon gas tank, too.  Good thing, it only got 13 mpg!  On the other hand, gas was only 29.9 cents per gallon then.  I learned the gas tank size when I ran out of gas once and coasted downhill to a gas station and filled it up!

Who on EARTH thought to hide the gas cap behind the license plate holder?   Apparently, the idea didn't catch on.  On the other hand, I was always able to drive up to any side of the gas pumps available.  But I'll just say that was one of the funniest/odder things that ever happened to me.

Just wanted to share a great old memory...

Eyeglass Fun, Part 3

Writing yesterday's post reminded me that I had had 2 pairs of the previous prescription and ruined one.  The frames had a tendency toward loose screws.  I brought the previous back to For Eyes several times for that (after searching the office carpet for lost screws at least twice).  They simply re-installed screws (Duh, I can do that).

I finally decided to epoxy the lenses to the frame and end the problem.  Now, I'm a reasonably "ept" repair person.  But I sure chose the wrong way to do it!  With my slightly shaky hands, attempting to apply epoxy inside the frame rims and then getting the lenses back in while also trying to tighten the frame scres, I botched it big time!  I had epoxy smears all over the lenses...

I contemplated the disaster.  It wasn't the frame, it was the simple little screw.  On the OTHER pair of glasses, I dabbed the tiniest bit of epoxy into the screw hole with a toothpick, tightened the screw and the problem was solved forever! 

Man, I can be stupid sometimes!!!

I will do that with the new frames as a pre-emptive measure...

Eyeglass Fun, Part 2

Well, better news about the new eyeglasses today!  Previously, I mentioned how I had 3 botched appointments with the Dr at For Eyes.  I had exams there before and they were excellent.  But they seemed to have lost the ability to manage the appointment schedule (an estimated minimum 1.5 hour extra wait each time), so I went right around the corner ta another place.

THAT exam went just fine, but their frame selection was AWFUL!  All the frames were expensive designer types at ridiculous prices ($200+ for one frame, and I wanted two)  And being "designer frames", they were the size of postage stamps.  Sorry, I don't want to even SEE the frames when I wear them.

And I told them that when I went in for the exam.  It's why I didn't go there first to begin with!  So I got done with the exam, paid for it, and they wanted to say "bye-bye".  Wait, I need the prescription!

"Oh gosh, the Dr is with another patient now and you'll have to wait..  Um, wasn't it obvious I would want the prescription?  Probably, but they wouldn't get paid for that.

Revenge time:  I spent 10 minutes pacing rapidly around the waiting room.  That disturbed them.  Finally, a clerk came over and said they would have the prescription faxed to where ever I wanted.  Good!

So I went back to For Eyes, with the great selection, walked in, and said I want your 2-for-1 deal on these (showing them my current frame).  They had them at 2 for $109, great.  They got the prescription faxed, I paid and left.

I picked up the new glasses today.  They fitted them perfectly in 5 minutes and I was out of there!  They work great; I can read small print again, and the newspaper and computer are easy to see.

Too bad the good appointment scheduler at one place didn't work at the place with the good frame selection.  They'd all be rich.

But all's well that ends well (to coin a phrase, LOL) and I can now laugh about it.  Until next time...

Seedstarting Fun

Is there a rule in life that nothing can ever just go smoothly?  I ask because I went to start my garden seedlings a couple of days ago and it was harder than it should have been.

Now, maybe I am fussy about my seed-starting, but I have 40 years experience at it and I know what works best.  You start seeds indoors, and you want sterile, unfertilized non-crusting soil. That means something called "seed starting soil".  It is finely sifted, loose, and no fertilizer that encourages fungal growth to kill the seeds.

It was time to start my tomatoes, peppers, etc.  The home stores did not have seed-starting soil available!  What???

 They said the demand wasn't high at this time of year.  But THIS is the time to start seeds!  The garden-department guy just looked at me weirdly, like maybe I was a communist.  After visiting 2 other home stores, I went home defeated.

But I checked my supplies.  Seed-starting soil is milled moss, vermiculite (or perlite), and sand.  I had the first two, but no sand.  And I found a bag of potting soil with almost no fertilizer (0.07%).  I made my own!

The potting soil and the sphagnum moss had chunks of stuff in it.  I tried using a kitchen sieve, but it was too fine.  The kitty litter scoop on the other hand worked GREAT (cleaned and dried).  3 parts sifted potting soil, 1 part sifted sphagnum moss, and 1 part vermiculite, well stirred, and I was in business! 

The sifted-out stuff will go in the regular potting mix for houseplants and outdoors containers.  They won't mind the extra material at all.

So I have my heirloom tomatoes, hybrid bell peppers, broccoli, and various annual flowers going just fine now.   The tomatoes, etc are upstairs where it is warm to germinate best.  The flowers are in the basement where THEY germinate best, and the petunias (that need light to germinate are under artificial "daylight" lights. 

At least the new season is started!

I guess that, in the future, I will have to buy my seed-starting soil later this year for next year!  Glad I have a storage shed...

Eyeglass Fun

Well, the old eyeglasses have gotten weaker and scratched, so it was time to get replacements.  It started last Fall.  I went to the place that gave good service previously and arranged an exam appointment.  When I arrived, the Dr was three (30 minute) appointments behind.  So I cancelled and went home.  I'm not one to sit and wait.

In January, I made another appointment.  The Dr was again behind by three appointments.

Last week, I made an appointment for the first appointment of the day.  He can't be behind schedule then, right?  Wrong!  Some twit in the office made earlier appointments KNOWING he would be behind schedule from the start!

I walked out, went to the nearest other eye Dr and scheduled a new first appointment on condition that there COULD NOT BE earlier ones.  I was assured there would be no earlier ones.

And there weren't!  I had a thorough exam and even was shown pictures of my retina and blood vessels on a computer.  Mine are (fortunately) GREAT/PERFECT/YOUNG-LOOKING. 

I should mention I am farsighted and need only reading glasses for the computer and newspaper.  To those of you who need glasses all day, I AM truly grateful for my otherwise good vision.  Not like it is something I accomplished myself; I have to say I had good parental genes.

The Dr said I had no serious eye problems, but I AM getting older and "chit happens"...

I looked at the frame selection and was seriously disappointed.  All were small frames (the new fashion?) and ridiculously expensive celebrity-name brands costing $200 and up.  PFFT!  I told them I would have to take the prescription elsewhere.  So they knew that.

So it came time to pay.  No problem there, except they gave me a receipt for the eye exam and said, "well that's it".  Um, prescription please?  Stunned silence at the desk.  "You need a prescription?  Well the Dr is with a patient and it will be about 30 minutes".  Man, once they had all the money they were GOING to get from me, I ceased to exist.  After pacing around the small shop for 20 minutes, though, I guess I got annoying.  a clerk offerred that they could fax the prescription to where ever I choose a frame.  How kind of them...

5 minutes later, I was back at the original place, showed them my current eyeglasses (large enough so that I can't see the annoying frame), found the identical ones (two for $99), and told them to get a faxed prescription.   They did and I was out of there in 10 minutes.  The glasses won't be ready for a week, but that's is OK.

So one eyeglass place cant manage a schedule in three attempts but has great frame selection and is good about taking a prescription order, and the other is good about managing a scheduled appointment but has limited and expensive frames. 


A pox on all their houses!  Or maybe they should merge.

A "No Match"!

Just as a joke, I searched for the equivalent of basically "cat-like things"  Got ZERO!  Yay...

"Your search - felinopomorphic - did not match any documents."

Raingutters Again

Well, at least I cleared the gutters over the deck today.  I have a mesh screen over them now.  I think I will pull them off.  They don't work!

They get covered with oak flowers, leaves, and twigs.  It finally occurred to me today that the rain runs down the roof, hits the debris on the top of the raingutter mesh, and flows right over it onto the deck.


Now, when I originally built the deck, I installed a proper flashing against the house.  In spite of that, rain got into the basement wall below.  So when I had the deck door replaced 5 years ago (believe it or not, but LC the cat cracked the double pane seal by head ramming it - I was there when it happened), I had the professional replace the nearby boards and the flashing.

Then again, the gutters fill with debris even with the covers and block the downspouts, so maybe the rain is backing up into the walls from there.  I don't know.  So I am going to take the covers off so I can clean them out a couple of times each year until someone designs a gutter cover that actually works.  From the research I've done, NO gutter cover actually works...

So I used a stepladder to clean out the gutter and downspout hole over the deck.  The cover made it a miserable effort, but I managed it.  Then I got out the old extension ladder.  The nylon rope had rotted (nylon rope rots?).  I found a replacement rope at the Home Depot.  I put it on wrong the first time and had to re-install it while it was up because I couldn't lower it because it was caught in the gutter (stabilizer bars wedged in the gutter covers).

Don't laugh yet, it gets better...

When I had the rope attached correctly, I pulled on it.  The pulley popped off.  I'm going to buy a new one as soon as they go on sale.

Meanwhile, the gutter has loosened right over my corn, and the washout beat several plants right out of the ground back when it rained in early June.  I replanted them and placed a sheet of plywood at an angle against the house to deflect gutterfall (naturally, that was the last rain for a month).  I only had to do that because my attempts to install new gutter nails was useless.  I think the board on the roof is rotted.

Meanwhile, 3/4 of the raingutters are clogged with debris.  I fear it is time for a roofing/gutter professional to do some repairs. 

Avoiding Last Year's Mistakes

I made 2 really silly mistakes last year and I am pleased to say that I remembered them well enough to avoid them this year.

The first mistake was my compost.   I have a tumbler compost bin.  I add all my kitchen scraps and shredded paper to it.  It doesn't work like they advertise.  It never heats up, but it breaks down eventually.  Most important to me, the fresh high-quality kitchen scraps are not available to scavengers like raccoons.  I use the tumbler only for that reason.  As soon as the stuff is beyond scavenging, I move it to my real (normal") compost bins which work very well.

Well, last Spring my real compost bins were all full of cornstalks, flower canes and other stuff which was slow to break down.  So I used the material directly from the compost tumbler and dug it into the soil in my long trellis bed.  I know about sheet-composting, where you just bury all the fresh scraps straight into the soil.  So, no problem, right?

The second mistake was my fertilizer.  I have 2 kinds of organic fertilizers.  One is "W.O.W." (8-2-4) which is a corn gluten product.  It is great for lawns because on the nitrogen and because the corn gluten inhibits seeds from growing the initial root.  That really cuts down on the dandelions and other weeds if you time the application properly.  The corn gluten doesn't harm established plants at all and it is a fine source of nitrogen.  The other is "N Lite" (2-5-6).  I like having the 2 of them because I can use either separately or blended (10-7-10), according to what the plants want.

OK, so here's what happened last year.  First, I got a 1,000 melon and cuke seedlings sprouting from the lousy compost tumbler material!  I couldn't distinguish MY melon and cuke seedlings from the ocean of hybrid melon and cuke seedlings.  I tried to guess which ones were mine for a month, but finally pulled them all out.  I replanted.

That's where the second mistake came into play.  After scuffle-hoeing the whole area several times to make sure all the scrap melon seeds were spent, I carefully added a blend of the fertilizers to the soil and planted all my regular small crops.  Most of my good crops are seedlings grown indoors and transplanted out.  But I also have all those radishes, carrots, beets etc that are direct-seeded.

The fertilizer included the corn gluten.  That stuff that inhibits seeds from sprouting...  It was a month before I realized why nothing was growing!  ARGGHH!

Things are growing better this year...

Asparagus

ASPARAGUS!  I have an 8' by 3' asparagus bed.  I'm proud of it.  I harvested over 60 spears this year before letting the plants grow to replenish for next year.  It was great!  Last year I barely got a dozen (and they were late to emerge) and I thought they were dying.  I LOVE asparagus!  Fresh asparagus tastes better than grocery store ones!  And they are tenderer while still crisp when steamed...

I started with 10 crowns 15 years ago, but am down to 7.  I should replace the lost ones.  Or maybe I should just replace them all this Fall.  I haven't decided.  2 years ago, I covered the entire bed with black plastic to kill all the weeds.  That didn't work.  The weeds survived and the voles went crazy under the safety and warmth of the black plastic.  They killed several crowns entirely and damaged others.

But because I wasn't sure where the new spears were emerging (so I didn't want to chop them with the shovel) and didn't want to dig weeds out around the bed, the weeds are taking over.

Anyone want to come over and weed my asparagus bed?

I seem to have a lot of tree saplings and grass...  Yes, they grew THAT high just in this year!

Well, when I dig all the saplings and grass clumps up, I will do what I USED to do that helped.  Place folded up sheets of newspaper between the asparagus stalks.  It works great.  I just kind of overlooked it the past two years...

Perennial Day 2, Part 2

Well, I went to plant the new hostas I received a few days ago and got a real surprise!

The existing hostas are all fully grown.  So I just assumed that where there weren't any, they had died, and I had ordered replacements.  At every spot but one today, I found vole holes around the roots, but each one was still surviving and just now sending up new shoots!

Now I have 9 hostas to find new places for.  I have 2 hosta beds.  The backyard one has hostas placed far enough apart so that they are individual specimens.  I don't want to add more there.  The front yard bed has them crowded and overlapping (poor planning on my part, but the effect IS lush), so I CAN'T add more there.

Guess I'll have to make a 3rd hosta bed.  I certainly have enough shade...

OK, Time For A Little Humor...

Life is not all projects...

Consequences of retirement:

1. Getting up at 10am is "early".
2. You learn more about your pet's daily life then you even imagined.
3. It IS possible to eat all day long.
4. Beer: "Breakfast of ex-champions".
5. Late-night Nickeldeon cartoons are great. I can't live without 'Robot Chicken'.
6. It is harder to relate to Dilbert comic strips.
7. Neighbors who mow their lawns at 10am should be arrested.
8. Never shopping at Walmart on a weekend.
9. Dr and vet appointments at 2:30 on a Thursday are great!
10. "Manyana"...
11. Spending an hour preparing dinner is not a waste of time.
12. "Inflation-adjusted annuity for life"...
13. Not sharing air with flu-ridden carpool members.
14. Watching birds at the feeders for an hour.
15. No "justifying your job" during office reorganizations.
16. And no "annual performance reviews" either.
17. And no office cafeteria food, for that matter.
18. Great movie on at 3am? No problem.
19. Going fishing on a Tuesday. Or Wednesday. Or Thursday.
20. Zinfandel with lunch!
21. Golf or fishing?
22. No kids at movie theaters.
23. My cats don't remember a time when I wasn't "there all day".
24. Making real bread.
25. Remembering truly long, boring meetings and ROTFLMAO!
26. Forgetting Excel...
27. Using a Mac and not that damn Windows computer I had to have for "compatibility".
28. No longer faking "working" on telework days.
29. Getting emails from frustrated former co-workers.
30. And just replying to them about the joy of tending to the tomatoes...

I'll leave it at that... ;)

Boat Canopy

I am so tired of buying $200 boat covers that pool water no matter how tight I tie them, rip at the corners and only last 2 years anyway! So, I got it in my mind to simply build a tentlike cover of standard black plastic sheet on a PVC pipe frame that could just be slid over the boat like a movable carport. I have spent 4 days learning all sorts of things about PVC fittings and is is very complicated. I found sites that had designs for structures, I found sites that sold connectors, and I found sites that sold kits.

Nowhere did I find a site that actually explained what all the fitting choices meant! There are "slip fittings", "hub fittings", "fipt fittings", "sanitary fittings", "street fittings", "furniture grade", "utility grade", "gray", "white", schedule 40", schedule 80", etc, etc, etc.

But I did figure it all out eventually. Indeed, I now know more about PVC pipe fittings than I ever wanted to! Add in the fact that the manufacturers don't want to sell to individuals and the local retailers carry limited selections, and it gets really hard to design what you want.

Just as examples (as best I have figured it out): "Slip" means the end fits inside a hub. "Hub" means there is a larger flange for a slip. "fipt" means that the pipe fitting screws on. "Sanitary fitting" means that the angles go out in a curve. "Schedule" means the amount of pressure the pipes can withstand. "Gray" is more UV resistant than "white". "Street" means that one end has a hub and the other end is a slip. Arggh!

Building a box frame from PVC pipe is not tricky or expensive. Its the FITTINGS and COUPLINGS of any form that deviates from that that are. I designed a first one easily. All I needed were some "4 way 60 degree angles". But no one makes those.

And even when I figured out a design that used standard manufacturer fittings, I discovered that no local stores sold all of them (individually or collectively). Some manufacturers will sell individual fittings "by the box" to individuals. Great, I need 3 on something, and the box holds 20!

As long as I am ranting on this, I will complain about local "big box" retailer websites. They are totally unorganized. You would think they would list their PVC fittings either by pipe size (1 inch, 2 inch) or by type (90 degree elbows, tee fittings, etc). No, they are totally random. You have to search through hundreds of items to find the one you want. And they don't list half the fittings that I know are in the store! That's BAD website organization...

The "kit" sellers are the worst. They offer plans for various constructions, but mention that you have to buy all the pipe separately. In other words, all they are selling are the connectors. And they get 3 times the price for those. LOL! Its like finding a shed "kit" and discovering that all they are selling you is a design and nails...

I'll work the design out tomorrow with what is available locally retail...