I had a REALLY GOOD Saturday!
Some days are just SO successful that it makes the days when nothing seems to go right worth it. I started by cleaning/reorganizing the old toolshed.
First, the sawhorses that I built last year were wobbly. But investigating, I realized that the wood I used had dried and shrunk a bit and there were wing nuts under the attachments so I was able to twist them tighter and the sawhorses were firm again. Big deal, right? But it got the day started well and THAT matters.
Second, I moved some stuff around in there and actually gained some space. Well, I gained the space because I took a bicycle out and an old regular lawn mower out. I never used the bicycle because the tires kept going flat, so I'm selling it for 1/5 what I paid just to get rid of it. I bought it to have an easier trip home after leaving the car at the dealership for repairs. Just before THEY offerred free van rides home and back... Good idea, bad timing...
And that old gas mower is in the basement now. It won't start. I KNOW all it needs is for the carburetor to be cleaned, and I know how. But I don't really need it anymore. I bought an electric one last year (I hate noise) at that one works well enough for trim work. So I'll offer that for nearly free. Somebody can probably really need it.
I'd offer both free, but that attracts resellers and that isn't my purpose. I want them to go to someone who can just use them. In fact, free to any military person. I don't need the $20.
So I got the old toolshed organized better (similar pots together in boxes on shelves, etc, and that made the perfect space for the snowblower to be moved from the garage to the shed. It had run out of gas JUST as I finished using it the last snow in February. It is a beast to move manually, so I actually had to ADD GAS to it get it the 200' to the shed. And then I wanted to let it run dry so there was no gas left in it (good idea for all gas tools so the gas doesn't evaporate and clog the fuel line). I added just enough, because after it ran in the shed for 5 minutes, it went dry.
That left some space in the garage to bring the recycling bin in. I hate it being outside because I tend to dump stuff in it at night (and I mentioned I hate noise).
The boxes of pots I set on the old toolshed shelves meant there was slightly more room in the newer shed. Yes I have 2 sheds and they are full of yard equipment. I could probably start a business. Hey, at 68, I've accumulated a lot of stuff...
You could laugh and say "guys and their toys", but I actually use all that stuff (OK, the chipper/shredder is collecting dust, but that's because the local recycle center that opened AFTER I bought it accepts tree debris and gives back shredded mulch in return and I have a hauling trailer). I should sell it/give it away. But I have 1/8 acre of mowed brambles to dispose of, so it might be worth using one last time.
I mentioned planting 4 saplings a few posts ago. To my delight, they are leafing out nicely. But to keep them watered in their first "establishment year", I am using kitty litter buckets (really useful things for many purposes) with a tiny hole drilled in the bottom to water them gradually. The tiny hole lets the water settle in around the roots slowly drip by drip. Very efficient and quick to use. I just fill the bucket in 2 minutes from the garden hose and let gravity do the work.
BUT, the tubs are bright yellow and they look out-of-place in the yard. So I bought a $4 can of plastic spray paint (hunter green). I didn't want to spray the floor or the lawn, so I hung the 4 tubs (one at a time) from a board and sprayed them at normal height. Worked perfectly and I ran out of spray as the last side was covered. Sometimes you get lucky like that.
So, being bored with all the success, I decided to mow the yard for the first time this year. The 20 year old riding mower didn't want to start (it's the old battery) so I hooked up a charger while I went to do other stuff.
Which was reattaching the chicken wire to the garden enclosure frame... Now THAT was a job! It required being in two places at once (Firesign Theater joke: "How can you be in 2 places at once when you're not anywhere at all"). But bar clamps and bungee cords helped and I have a lot of bungee cords. I used nylon ties to hold all the wire together, but I need to go back soon and "sew" them together more permanently soon. Those nylon ties get brittle and break in sunlight after a year.
So, by then, the mower battery was charged enough (barely) to start the engine and I went to mow the lawn. It coughed and sputterred all the way and the cutting was ragged. I could run the mower up a ramp and sharpen the blades and try to tune the engine a bit. I used to work at a drive-in simple repair shop. Or I can drive it on the trailer and bring it to a small motor repair shop in town. But this is the wrong time of year for that. They are booked solid for a month! I guess I'll sharpen the blades slightly and wait a month. But at least I cut the lawn weeds down (though raggedly).
And then it started to drizzle rain. So I put everything away and went inside. The Mews were annoyed. I don't let them outside when I am using equipment. They panic at the noise but want to run TO me, which is exactly where I DON'T want them to be ( I don't want kitty-burgers). And then, because of the rain, I didn't want them OUT then either.
So we played treat-toss inside while I prepared dinner. They love that. Kibbles bounce around funny and they get "the thrill of the chase". Marley loves it, Ayla is best at it. Iza is a bit inept at it (she has other skills like lap-napping) so I pretty much have to toss hers right under her nose, LOL!
I was cooking a steak. I'm more into pork, chicken and shrimp, but it was a busy active day so I had a steak (I cut them into 3 ounce pieces). Purists will gag, but I fry them. I like to experiment with pan sauces (a splash of dry sherry, a dab on butter, a toss of cornstarch, with some herbs). BTW, don't try adding mayonaise (as I did this time). It doesn't blend well!
But it tasted good. With a large tossed salad with oil/vinegar, corn on the cob, asparagus and beets, it was a really good meal. Ayla and Iza got a small bit minced before I spiced it up (Marley doesn't like "Human food").
Then I watched a baseball game ("we" won) and they all sat around me napping, purring, getting chin scritchies. All 3 within a foot of me for a couple hours, then we all went to bed.
A day DOESN'T get much better than that...
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Cat-Blog Comment Problems
I may have A solution for some of us who have been having problems leaving comments on blog sites!!!
As many of you who mostly visit my Mark's Mews cat blog know, I have had on-and-off problems leaving comments at blogs. It has driven me to distraction sometimes, but mostly, I worry that my blog friends will think I never visit them. It was so bad that I couldn't even get Preview of my comments to show up, never mind sent.
I kept trying. Sometimes I could comment for weeks and then suddenly I couldn't. I don't know about you, but I have Statcounter. Its a simple free program that shows you some very general data about visitors to your site. If you recognize a visitor, you can label them so you see a friend's name.
I'm not pushing it. It has some flaws. It doesn't recognize every visitor (mobile phones maybe). But it gives me a general idea of how many people visit the blog.
So, if some of my friends have that too, they see that I visit but never leave comments. When in fact, I am trying like crazy to do so, sometimes several times at a single site I visit.
I thought I fixed the problem once by switching my feedly.com reading list from Safari to Firefox, and indeed it worked for a while. But it would always stop in a few weeks.
Recently, I was looking around at some app settings after yet another frequent upgrade from Firefox, and I REALIZED SOMETHING (all caps to get your attention).
My Firefox was a Beta version. You can tell by clicking on "Firefox" in the upper left corner and then clicking "About Firefox". That tells you the version you have. A "b" means Beta.
I'm generally willing to go with a Beta version for the improvements, but I started to wonder about that. Betas are not final versions and have flaws. And also (and I think this is the most important part), other apps haven't adjusted their programming to the Beta version yet. Apparently, at some point in the past, I agreed to receive Beta versions of Firefox.
Think about that. My Firefox Beta app is ahead of the regular sites who sometimes have to make some adjustments! That takes them some time. And during that time, there may be programmibg conflicts.
And it seemed to me that the last time I updated the Firefox app was just when I stopped being able to comment on blog sites.
I had a hard time finding info on the Firefox Beta Program, but I eventually found a discussion of it by people like me who were trying to get off it. Firefox didn't make that easy. It seems they get a lot more information about your usage in the Beta Program than they can if you use the Regular versions. And they share it with other companies.
I finally figured out that the solution was actually simple. All you have to do is download their current regular version and move it to your apps folder. I don't know about Windows, but in Mac it asks you if you want to replace the previous version. Click YES. Your bookmarks will transfer and you will be off the Beta Program.
I did that a few hours ago and immediately tried commenting. I knew the instant I typed in a comment that it was different! My avatar showed up. Preview worked. Publish worked!
My comment went through to the site. And all I did was change from the Firefox Beta Program to the Regular Program...
I hope that works for anyone sufferring difficulties commenting...
A haiku of joy...
A problem of late
Became a problem no more.
I can comment now.
Hope this helps anyone else as it has helped me.
As many of you who mostly visit my Mark's Mews cat blog know, I have had on-and-off problems leaving comments at blogs. It has driven me to distraction sometimes, but mostly, I worry that my blog friends will think I never visit them. It was so bad that I couldn't even get Preview of my comments to show up, never mind sent.
I kept trying. Sometimes I could comment for weeks and then suddenly I couldn't. I don't know about you, but I have Statcounter. Its a simple free program that shows you some very general data about visitors to your site. If you recognize a visitor, you can label them so you see a friend's name.
I'm not pushing it. It has some flaws. It doesn't recognize every visitor (mobile phones maybe). But it gives me a general idea of how many people visit the blog.
So, if some of my friends have that too, they see that I visit but never leave comments. When in fact, I am trying like crazy to do so, sometimes several times at a single site I visit.
I thought I fixed the problem once by switching my feedly.com reading list from Safari to Firefox, and indeed it worked for a while. But it would always stop in a few weeks.
Recently, I was looking around at some app settings after yet another frequent upgrade from Firefox, and I REALIZED SOMETHING (all caps to get your attention).
My Firefox was a Beta version. You can tell by clicking on "Firefox" in the upper left corner and then clicking "About Firefox". That tells you the version you have. A "b" means Beta.
I'm generally willing to go with a Beta version for the improvements, but I started to wonder about that. Betas are not final versions and have flaws. And also (and I think this is the most important part), other apps haven't adjusted their programming to the Beta version yet. Apparently, at some point in the past, I agreed to receive Beta versions of Firefox.
Think about that. My Firefox Beta app is ahead of the regular sites who sometimes have to make some adjustments! That takes them some time. And during that time, there may be programmibg conflicts.
And it seemed to me that the last time I updated the Firefox app was just when I stopped being able to comment on blog sites.
I had a hard time finding info on the Firefox Beta Program, but I eventually found a discussion of it by people like me who were trying to get off it. Firefox didn't make that easy. It seems they get a lot more information about your usage in the Beta Program than they can if you use the Regular versions. And they share it with other companies.
I finally figured out that the solution was actually simple. All you have to do is download their current regular version and move it to your apps folder. I don't know about Windows, but in Mac it asks you if you want to replace the previous version. Click YES. Your bookmarks will transfer and you will be off the Beta Program.
I did that a few hours ago and immediately tried commenting. I knew the instant I typed in a comment that it was different! My avatar showed up. Preview worked. Publish worked!
My comment went through to the site. And all I did was change from the Firefox Beta Program to the Regular Program...
I hope that works for anyone sufferring difficulties commenting...
A haiku of joy...
A problem of late
Became a problem no more.
I can comment now.
Hope this helps anyone else as it has helped me.
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Garden and Yard Plantings
I mentioned the tree saplings yesterday. But there are also veggie and flower seedlings to start inside each week (for the past month). I started the tomatoes and peppers and cole crops weeks ago in individually set-up flats of plastic cels. But 4 weeks ago, knowing I needed numerous flats at 7 and 4 weeks before last frost date, I set up 8.
That meant filling the cels with my self-mixed potting soil mix in flats set into sturdy plastic holders (those planting flats are thin and bendy), adding rainwater I saved in jugs (seed-starters can get obsessive) to soak the potting soil, and stacking them up on my basement potting bench.
Hey, when it gets to actual planting day, that can save a LOT of time. And in spite of giving individual attention to planting, assembly-line procedures make it go faster. But there is ALWAYS something that has to be done you don't expect.
The first surprise of growing plants indoors is lack of good light. Well, I set up a light rack years ago. But of course, some bulbs burn out and for some reason that escapes me, they do it over Winter when they aren't even turned on! At the end of the indoor growing season, they all worked; at the beginning of the new one, about 25% are dead. Which is why I buy tube bulbs by the case (somewhere between 5000-6500 Kelvin and 2900+ lumens. They last about 2 years (on 16 hours per day for a couple months) and gradually get weaker over time.
I'll be buying LED tubes in the future. They are 2x the cost (but coming down), last 4-5x as long, and stay at full lumens until they suddenly stop. So, anyway, I had to replace several of the old bulbs and it can get awkward. I seem to be a bit inept and changing them. I suppose I need to just use more force turning them into the connections, but I'm always afraid they will break.
So I had 3 requirements (not counting changing the tubes). First, I replanted cels where the seeds didn't germinate. If I think I need 12 marigolds and only get 8, I replant quickly. Seed companies are weird. If I order celery seeds, I get 1,000. and what do I need with 1,000 celery plants? Yet if I order zinnias for a mass planting of 60, they put 25 seeds in a package and I need to order several. LOL!
Second, I had to move flats around on the light stand AND 6-pack cels from flat to flat. Some plants grow faster than others. You want the seedlings close to the lights, so taller ones have to be together. I keep a label in every 6-pack cel for that reason. A flat of all the same plants only needs one thankfully. But mostly I have mixed seedlings in a flat so they need to be moved around.
Third, I built wooden stands of various heights the size of the flats. That allows a lot of easy height adjustment to keep the seedling near the lights. And for other adjustment, I cut a few 2"x4" boards the width of the stands so I can raise them 2" or 4" easily.
So I had a choice (this was Monday) to plant some seeds outside or plant a lot more inside. It was chilly and windy out; guess which I chose to do? Yes, inside. I'm planting a LOT of self-sowing annuals for either "just" flower or butterfly/bee/hummingbirds. I tried scattering butterfly/bee/hummingbird (BBH) flower seeds and covering them lightly per package directions 2 years and they didn't grow much. This year, I am starting a lot inside and will transplant them into the BBH bed in hopes of better growth.
I'm not depending on the transplants except for first year growth (and hopefully "self-sowing"). But I HAVE to have enough to attract them and get them used to coming here. The meadow flower bed did reasonably well the first year and "OK" the next. But I think it needs more help getting started, too. So about half the seeds I started are for there. Its not like BBH don't like meadow flowers too, just that they aren't as dedicated to producing what BBH need. Though I suspect some will be good plants for caterpillars to eat.
Still, the meadow bed is mostly for ME to enjoy looking at. And partially, the meadow bed is so that I have something to enjoy looking at while I renovate my 25 year old perennial bed along the fence. It has slowly lost ground (literally, LOL) to invading fosythia, poison ivy, some vine I don't recognize, old age. and changes in sunlight.
Parts of it are undisturbed and thriving (hurray for Stoke's Aster and Autumn Joy Sedum and some individual plants like Brunerra Jack Frost), but it mostly need to be ripped up and started over. Ans this time as a cottage garden, I think. Tall flowers (that self-sow) so thickly-growing that they shade out the weeds.
I've change my flowerbed habits several times over the years. It's always a decision with ups abd downs. Annual flowers need transplanting every year, but they bloom all year. Perennials last years (for most) and decades (for some) but flower briefly. Self-sowing annuals might be an interesting combination. The pictures I've seen of self-sowing cottage gardens suggest that they might flower like annuals bur last for years. I know that in a house I rented for 4 years. Four O' Clocks (annuals) reliably filled the space all the time I was there.
I may be an interesting growing season...
That meant filling the cels with my self-mixed potting soil mix in flats set into sturdy plastic holders (those planting flats are thin and bendy), adding rainwater I saved in jugs (seed-starters can get obsessive) to soak the potting soil, and stacking them up on my basement potting bench.
Hey, when it gets to actual planting day, that can save a LOT of time. And in spite of giving individual attention to planting, assembly-line procedures make it go faster. But there is ALWAYS something that has to be done you don't expect.
The first surprise of growing plants indoors is lack of good light. Well, I set up a light rack years ago. But of course, some bulbs burn out and for some reason that escapes me, they do it over Winter when they aren't even turned on! At the end of the indoor growing season, they all worked; at the beginning of the new one, about 25% are dead. Which is why I buy tube bulbs by the case (somewhere between 5000-6500 Kelvin and 2900+ lumens. They last about 2 years (on 16 hours per day for a couple months) and gradually get weaker over time.
I'll be buying LED tubes in the future. They are 2x the cost (but coming down), last 4-5x as long, and stay at full lumens until they suddenly stop. So, anyway, I had to replace several of the old bulbs and it can get awkward. I seem to be a bit inept and changing them. I suppose I need to just use more force turning them into the connections, but I'm always afraid they will break.
So I had 3 requirements (not counting changing the tubes). First, I replanted cels where the seeds didn't germinate. If I think I need 12 marigolds and only get 8, I replant quickly. Seed companies are weird. If I order celery seeds, I get 1,000. and what do I need with 1,000 celery plants? Yet if I order zinnias for a mass planting of 60, they put 25 seeds in a package and I need to order several. LOL!
Second, I had to move flats around on the light stand AND 6-pack cels from flat to flat. Some plants grow faster than others. You want the seedlings close to the lights, so taller ones have to be together. I keep a label in every 6-pack cel for that reason. A flat of all the same plants only needs one thankfully. But mostly I have mixed seedlings in a flat so they need to be moved around.
Third, I built wooden stands of various heights the size of the flats. That allows a lot of easy height adjustment to keep the seedling near the lights. And for other adjustment, I cut a few 2"x4" boards the width of the stands so I can raise them 2" or 4" easily.
So I had a choice (this was Monday) to plant some seeds outside or plant a lot more inside. It was chilly and windy out; guess which I chose to do? Yes, inside. I'm planting a LOT of self-sowing annuals for either "just" flower or butterfly/bee/hummingbirds. I tried scattering butterfly/bee/hummingbird (BBH) flower seeds and covering them lightly per package directions 2 years and they didn't grow much. This year, I am starting a lot inside and will transplant them into the BBH bed in hopes of better growth.
I'm not depending on the transplants except for first year growth (and hopefully "self-sowing"). But I HAVE to have enough to attract them and get them used to coming here. The meadow flower bed did reasonably well the first year and "OK" the next. But I think it needs more help getting started, too. So about half the seeds I started are for there. Its not like BBH don't like meadow flowers too, just that they aren't as dedicated to producing what BBH need. Though I suspect some will be good plants for caterpillars to eat.
Still, the meadow bed is mostly for ME to enjoy looking at. And partially, the meadow bed is so that I have something to enjoy looking at while I renovate my 25 year old perennial bed along the fence. It has slowly lost ground (literally, LOL) to invading fosythia, poison ivy, some vine I don't recognize, old age. and changes in sunlight.
Parts of it are undisturbed and thriving (hurray for Stoke's Aster and Autumn Joy Sedum and some individual plants like Brunerra Jack Frost), but it mostly need to be ripped up and started over. Ans this time as a cottage garden, I think. Tall flowers (that self-sow) so thickly-growing that they shade out the weeds.
I've change my flowerbed habits several times over the years. It's always a decision with ups abd downs. Annual flowers need transplanting every year, but they bloom all year. Perennials last years (for most) and decades (for some) but flower briefly. Self-sowing annuals might be an interesting combination. The pictures I've seen of self-sowing cottage gardens suggest that they might flower like annuals bur last for years. I know that in a house I rented for 4 years. Four O' Clocks (annuals) reliably filled the space all the time I was there.
I may be an interesting growing season...
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Tree Saplings and "Stuff"
I once read that an optimist is "someone who plants small trees when he is old". Well, yes I am and I did.
I MAY see these 4 trees grow and bloom and I MAY not. That makes little difference to me. I just like to DO THINGS that suggest the future. I sometimes think of the future without me alive in it. It takes some thought... But I can picture the yard with newly-planted saplings at least grown to blooming age.
I planted 2 Sourwoods and 2 Korean Dogwoods. The Sourwoods have a bad-sounding name, but where they grow, they are gorgeous. Burgundy leaves and bunches of gold seeds in the Fall.
The Dogwoods are great in the Spring and the Korean dogwood doesn't suffer the disease that is infecting American dogwoods. So I hope to see Spring and Fall colors. It may take some time for them to grow to full color in their seasons.
One day, this property will not be mine. I'll be gone in some way or another. But I have a vision of the yard. I should have striven for that idea years before, but you do what you can as you can and not look back TOO much.
My personal vision of the yard involves perennial flowers, some spots where there are mostly self-sowing flowers, and some places where are specific plants to help the hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees thrive. And that is aside from the thistle seed feeders for the goldfinches and the sunflower seed feeder for the cardinals and purple finches et al.
It may seem odd that I dislike Robins, but they eat my earthworms and I kind of resent that. But they need their food too, so I leave the lawn-clippings on the surface for the earthworms to eat as best they can. Nature balances when you let it. If I didn't have healthy soil, I wouldn't have earthworms, and if I did't have earthworms, the Robins wouldn't be marching across the lawn finding the least careful worms.
I do sort of wish the Robins hunted voles though... I would love the Robins better then, LOL!
The best thing is that I'm 68 and I still have PLANS! LOL... The day I don't think about "next year" is the day they haul me away. I think the best way to stay sane while aging is to imagine "next year". New flowers, new tomatoes, etc...
I MAY see these 4 trees grow and bloom and I MAY not. That makes little difference to me. I just like to DO THINGS that suggest the future. I sometimes think of the future without me alive in it. It takes some thought... But I can picture the yard with newly-planted saplings at least grown to blooming age.
I planted 2 Sourwoods and 2 Korean Dogwoods. The Sourwoods have a bad-sounding name, but where they grow, they are gorgeous. Burgundy leaves and bunches of gold seeds in the Fall.
The Dogwoods are great in the Spring and the Korean dogwood doesn't suffer the disease that is infecting American dogwoods. So I hope to see Spring and Fall colors. It may take some time for them to grow to full color in their seasons.
One day, this property will not be mine. I'll be gone in some way or another. But I have a vision of the yard. I should have striven for that idea years before, but you do what you can as you can and not look back TOO much.
My personal vision of the yard involves perennial flowers, some spots where there are mostly self-sowing flowers, and some places where are specific plants to help the hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees thrive. And that is aside from the thistle seed feeders for the goldfinches and the sunflower seed feeder for the cardinals and purple finches et al.
It may seem odd that I dislike Robins, but they eat my earthworms and I kind of resent that. But they need their food too, so I leave the lawn-clippings on the surface for the earthworms to eat as best they can. Nature balances when you let it. If I didn't have healthy soil, I wouldn't have earthworms, and if I did't have earthworms, the Robins wouldn't be marching across the lawn finding the least careful worms.
I do sort of wish the Robins hunted voles though... I would love the Robins better then, LOL!
The best thing is that I'm 68 and I still have PLANS! LOL... The day I don't think about "next year" is the day they haul me away. I think the best way to stay sane while aging is to imagine "next year". New flowers, new tomatoes, etc...
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Friday, March 29, 2019
A Better Day
So the cement held on the pvc pipe repair. And I pulled on it hard. Good. Now I just have to straighten and reinstall 2 others.
I plan to add more supports so that (hopefully) this doesn't happen again. As best I can guess, enogh leaves fell on the chicken wire covering that the large snowflakes that fell didn't fall through it and accumulated enough weight to bend even the metal pipes in the pvc pipes. I'll have to be careful about that in the future.
I built the structure with metal pipe inside pvc pipe because there were some complicated connections and metal pipes didn't offer those and pvc pipes did.
I still have some pipes to straighten. But now that I've done the worst-bent one, the rest should be a BIT easier. Not "easy" but "easier". Part of the problem with the first one was that the temperature outside was close to the minimum 45F that the cement cures at rapidly. The next couple days are supposed to reach the 70F mark (yay Spring) so I can do better with the other bent pipes.
So of course I wasn't sitting around just waiting for the temperature to rise. I had planned for the brambles in the back 1/4th of the yard to be gone in Fall 2017, but the one guy I found who said he could do that THEN ended up in the hospital from a job injury (and decided to retire). I did it myself last Fall (really brambly awkward work). But I did it.
I had to do it. I had 5 saplings to plant that I bought in Fall 2017 and had set in my garden "temporarily", LOL! I went out to dig holes for them in Winter and it was like digging a hole in ice. So I moved 4 of them Tuesday. At least I could dig the soil. I transplanted them carefully. I LOVE my solid steel spade! I sharpened the edge and it cuts through all soil and vine roots well.
Today, I took 4 kitty litter buckets (I save them) and drilled a tiny hole in the bottom of each. Why? Well, when I fill them from the hose, they drip water slowly into the soil. It soaks in rather than run off that way. And I don't have to stand around 30 minutes soaking the area. Plus, the buckets remind me where the saplings are so I won't mistake them for the junk saplings that spring up on their own.
More to do in the days to come of course, but that was a good start!
I plan to add more supports so that (hopefully) this doesn't happen again. As best I can guess, enogh leaves fell on the chicken wire covering that the large snowflakes that fell didn't fall through it and accumulated enough weight to bend even the metal pipes in the pvc pipes. I'll have to be careful about that in the future.
I built the structure with metal pipe inside pvc pipe because there were some complicated connections and metal pipes didn't offer those and pvc pipes did.
I still have some pipes to straighten. But now that I've done the worst-bent one, the rest should be a BIT easier. Not "easy" but "easier". Part of the problem with the first one was that the temperature outside was close to the minimum 45F that the cement cures at rapidly. The next couple days are supposed to reach the 70F mark (yay Spring) so I can do better with the other bent pipes.
So of course I wasn't sitting around just waiting for the temperature to rise. I had planned for the brambles in the back 1/4th of the yard to be gone in Fall 2017, but the one guy I found who said he could do that THEN ended up in the hospital from a job injury (and decided to retire). I did it myself last Fall (really brambly awkward work). But I did it.
I had to do it. I had 5 saplings to plant that I bought in Fall 2017 and had set in my garden "temporarily", LOL! I went out to dig holes for them in Winter and it was like digging a hole in ice. So I moved 4 of them Tuesday. At least I could dig the soil. I transplanted them carefully. I LOVE my solid steel spade! I sharpened the edge and it cuts through all soil and vine roots well.
Today, I took 4 kitty litter buckets (I save them) and drilled a tiny hole in the bottom of each. Why? Well, when I fill them from the hose, they drip water slowly into the soil. It soaks in rather than run off that way. And I don't have to stand around 30 minutes soaking the area. Plus, the buckets remind me where the saplings are so I won't mistake them for the junk saplings that spring up on their own.
More to do in the days to come of course, but that was a good start!
Sunday, March 24, 2019
A Hard Day
My enclosed garden structure is falling apart.
I didn't think that was possible because the PVC tubes were so closely bound by the chicken wire and nylon ties.
But 2 winters ago, enough large snowflakes fell on the top to bend the framework. It was little enough so that I could ignore it intending to push them straight (there are metal pipes inside the PVC for strength), but I never got around to it.
And a 2nd pvc pipe broke and fell this past Winter. So I went out to fix it.
It was a horrible experience! Nothing I tried, worked. You can't be on both ends of a 10' pole at once, but I built it to begin with, so I did in a way.
This is the original framework. PVC tubes with metal pipes inside for strength...
Not enough strength. I covered it all with chicken wire. And some large snow collected on it. I didn't expect THAT. It bent everything!
One pole just fell. I straightened it. And spent 3 hours trying to put it back in place... It was utterly maddening.
I THINK I have the PVC pipe with metal pipe insert cemented into place but I went nuts doing it. I finally had to cut the chicken wire loose to allow me to get at the PVC connections to push the cemented parts together. And finally used seriously-stretched bungee cords to keep the 2 ends tight together.
I'll see how well the bonding worked tomorrow. I'm wondering if I have the wrong kind of cement. I'll find out tomorrow. If the parts aren't fused, than I need a different kind that has a primer AND cement combined.
And here I thought I was going to plant spinach, carrots, and leeks today after a small repair job...
I didn't think that was possible because the PVC tubes were so closely bound by the chicken wire and nylon ties.
But 2 winters ago, enough large snowflakes fell on the top to bend the framework. It was little enough so that I could ignore it intending to push them straight (there are metal pipes inside the PVC for strength), but I never got around to it.
And a 2nd pvc pipe broke and fell this past Winter. So I went out to fix it.
It was a horrible experience! Nothing I tried, worked. You can't be on both ends of a 10' pole at once, but I built it to begin with, so I did in a way.
This is the original framework. PVC tubes with metal pipes inside for strength...
One pole just fell. I straightened it. And spent 3 hours trying to put it back in place... It was utterly maddening.
I THINK I have the PVC pipe with metal pipe insert cemented into place but I went nuts doing it. I finally had to cut the chicken wire loose to allow me to get at the PVC connections to push the cemented parts together. And finally used seriously-stretched bungee cords to keep the 2 ends tight together.
I'll see how well the bonding worked tomorrow. I'm wondering if I have the wrong kind of cement. I'll find out tomorrow. If the parts aren't fused, than I need a different kind that has a primer AND cement combined.
And here I thought I was going to plant spinach, carrots, and leeks today after a small repair job...
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Flowers! Spring!
It is finally Spring. And not just by the calendar, by flowers. I am thrilled to have some...
The first daffodils...
These all come from one bulb I planted. I remember that spot...
Crocuses growing where I didn't deliberately plant them. Squrrels or just is soin I used from elsewhere?
My favorite crocus...
This last one is a very old planting in bad soil and that was covered by overgrown brambles and vines and still survive. THIS year, they get full sunlight and attention...
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Lost Comments
My dear , readers, and commenters... I have just learned (thank you Megan) THAT friends' comments have been ignored. It wasn't deliberate, and in fact I check the moderation comment list almost daily. So something obviously went wrong.
And the graphic I use for Mark's Mews (the small wavey red of yellow title you see at my comments) is gone too. I MAY have been slightly hacked.
So I am immediately running the computer through my anti-virus and computer security software. It will take a day. It is slow but thorough.
At last resort, I have my "time machine", which is is the Mac backup system. Which of course I disconnected several months ago (for perfectly good reasons) and the forgot to reattach. Perfect timing. But at least my Mark's Mews graphic is in there.
See you all soon, I hope. Bye for now...
And the graphic I use for Mark's Mews (the small wavey red of yellow title you see at my comments) is gone too. I MAY have been slightly hacked.
So I am immediately running the computer through my anti-virus and computer security software. It will take a day. It is slow but thorough.
At last resort, I have my "time machine", which is is the Mac backup system. Which of course I disconnected several months ago (for perfectly good reasons) and the forgot to reattach. Perfect timing. But at least my Mark's Mews graphic is in there.
See you all soon, I hope. Bye for now...
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Heart Cat
There will never be another Skeeter in my life. He was the first who really was special. I won't denigrate the ones who came before, because they were good companions who I loved, but there wasn't that "special connection". They were GOOD CATS!
Skeeter was special. I had reached an age and situation where I could appreciate him more than the others, but I have come to understand that it was my fault, not theirs'. They shared my apartments or the rented house, but they never quite attached themselves to me. Skeeter was the first here in my real house who did. He slept under the covers against me. And the other cat, LC, was really sort of HIS cat. I loved and cherished them both.
But here is the difficult part. Ayla, Iza, and Marley are more closely attached to me than even Skeeter was. This is hard to explain, but for most of Skeeter's life, I was away at work. Ayla, Iza, and Marley have been with me 24/7/365. That has changed my thoughts a bit.
I think what I'm trying to say here is that there is not just one Heart Cat in life.. And not all cats will be Heart Cats. But there can be more than one...
I'm sitting here at the computer and Iza is sitting at my feet. She really can't bear to be away from me. I'm really her total focus in life; Tonkinese are amazing that way. She has to sleep next to me, she has to follow me around the house, she has to sit next to me while I eat dinner. I can't move without checking to see where she is. If I fail, I bump her with a foot. In bed, I have to be careful when I toss or turn because she is there. She is THAT close to me all the time. I cherish her affection deeply. How could she not be a Heart Cat?
Ayla isn't always around me (she avoids Iza), but she wants my attention every morning. Her territory is the bedroom. When I get up, she is there on furniture wanting my touch. Head bumps, strokes, nuzzles... She follows me every place except into the shower (there ARE limits). She needs me to hold and stroke her for assurance that she is my Small Beloved Princess and that she is as important to me as Iza is.
And after 2 failed spays and frustrating constant heats in her younger days Pulling her off me sometimes like a pile of thorny brambles), how can I not assure her that her love is not returned. I am so happy with her finally free of the "heat". I can hold her over my shoulder for a long time and she purrs so happily when I do. When I sit up in bed, ready to face the day, she comes and nestles on my lap for as long as I will allow, and when she sits on the sunny bathroom windowsill, she desires all my attention for as long as I can give it. She eats in the bedroom and guides me (as I follow her around holding the foodbowl) to the spot she desires for that meal.
Whenever I enter the bedroom, she calls to me,wanting my attention. We went through so much difficulty together before she was finally spayed successfully on the 3rd try. How could she not be a Heart Cat?
And Marley. Good old Marley. Marley does not sleep with me often. But he is always a calm presence here. He is usually on the ottoman in front of me while I watch TV, he is often on my lap. If he was the only cat, he would attached to me like Skeeter was. He is the cat who appears on my lap when I don't notice it until he is asleep there. He is welcomed by Iza and Ayla equally, and naps with both. When I am restless, he calms me. He sneaks under the blankets sometimes but never disturbs my sleep, staying near but just out of touch so that I know he is there but I can turn around and he won't mind. He is so much like Skeeter, but maybe more so. How can he not be a Heart Cat?
The truth is that each one is. I can't be so lucky to have 4 Heart Cats, so it has to be that we choose any early cat and decide on that one, and then deny the title to all that come after.
I think I will try to stop thinking in terms of Heart Cats, and allow them all to be, in their own ways. The current ones surely are deserving of that title...
Skeeter was special. I had reached an age and situation where I could appreciate him more than the others, but I have come to understand that it was my fault, not theirs'. They shared my apartments or the rented house, but they never quite attached themselves to me. Skeeter was the first here in my real house who did. He slept under the covers against me. And the other cat, LC, was really sort of HIS cat. I loved and cherished them both.
But here is the difficult part. Ayla, Iza, and Marley are more closely attached to me than even Skeeter was. This is hard to explain, but for most of Skeeter's life, I was away at work. Ayla, Iza, and Marley have been with me 24/7/365. That has changed my thoughts a bit.
I think what I'm trying to say here is that there is not just one Heart Cat in life.. And not all cats will be Heart Cats. But there can be more than one...
I'm sitting here at the computer and Iza is sitting at my feet. She really can't bear to be away from me. I'm really her total focus in life; Tonkinese are amazing that way. She has to sleep next to me, she has to follow me around the house, she has to sit next to me while I eat dinner. I can't move without checking to see where she is. If I fail, I bump her with a foot. In bed, I have to be careful when I toss or turn because she is there. She is THAT close to me all the time. I cherish her affection deeply. How could she not be a Heart Cat?
Ayla isn't always around me (she avoids Iza), but she wants my attention every morning. Her territory is the bedroom. When I get up, she is there on furniture wanting my touch. Head bumps, strokes, nuzzles... She follows me every place except into the shower (there ARE limits). She needs me to hold and stroke her for assurance that she is my Small Beloved Princess and that she is as important to me as Iza is.
And after 2 failed spays and frustrating constant heats in her younger days Pulling her off me sometimes like a pile of thorny brambles), how can I not assure her that her love is not returned. I am so happy with her finally free of the "heat". I can hold her over my shoulder for a long time and she purrs so happily when I do. When I sit up in bed, ready to face the day, she comes and nestles on my lap for as long as I will allow, and when she sits on the sunny bathroom windowsill, she desires all my attention for as long as I can give it. She eats in the bedroom and guides me (as I follow her around holding the foodbowl) to the spot she desires for that meal.
Whenever I enter the bedroom, she calls to me,wanting my attention. We went through so much difficulty together before she was finally spayed successfully on the 3rd try. How could she not be a Heart Cat?
And Marley. Good old Marley. Marley does not sleep with me often. But he is always a calm presence here. He is usually on the ottoman in front of me while I watch TV, he is often on my lap. If he was the only cat, he would attached to me like Skeeter was. He is the cat who appears on my lap when I don't notice it until he is asleep there. He is welcomed by Iza and Ayla equally, and naps with both. When I am restless, he calms me. He sneaks under the blankets sometimes but never disturbs my sleep, staying near but just out of touch so that I know he is there but I can turn around and he won't mind. He is so much like Skeeter, but maybe more so. How can he not be a Heart Cat?
The truth is that each one is. I can't be so lucky to have 4 Heart Cats, so it has to be that we choose any early cat and decide on that one, and then deny the title to all that come after.
I think I will try to stop thinking in terms of Heart Cats, and allow them all to be, in their own ways. The current ones surely are deserving of that title...
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
A Funny Story
I was reminded of this because of Daylight Saving Time. It doesn't involve that directly, but it does involve time...
I shared one apartment with 2 other guys. I was actually the person with the lease, but I was broke, so I found another broke guy to share the large bedroom with me and a guy with a good job to take the smaller single bedroom.
I'll call the guy with the good job "Jim" (well that was his name). His routine was to return from work, eat a TV Dinner, and drink Colt 45 beer until he eventually passed out in bed. Got up every morning where to all accounts he was very good at his job as the Parts Manager at a car dealership.
One Saturday afternoon, he had been drinking beer since morning (watching someone get up at 8 am and guzzling a beer is stomach-churning) and sat in a chair just waking up at twilight. So I pulled a trick on him.
Since he needed to get up around dawn, and dusk was about the same, my roomie and I pretended to be leaving for OUR jobs. And roused Jim and told him he was going to be late for work! He panicked and rushed out of the house. Give us some credit here, we made sure he was actually functional and sober, just accepting our actions based on half-light.
When he came back, realizing it was getting darker not lighter outside, and we were both sitting around watching TV instead of leaving for work ourselves, he was stunned.
We cracked up.
I shared one apartment with 2 other guys. I was actually the person with the lease, but I was broke, so I found another broke guy to share the large bedroom with me and a guy with a good job to take the smaller single bedroom.
I'll call the guy with the good job "Jim" (well that was his name). His routine was to return from work, eat a TV Dinner, and drink Colt 45 beer until he eventually passed out in bed. Got up every morning where to all accounts he was very good at his job as the Parts Manager at a car dealership.
One Saturday afternoon, he had been drinking beer since morning (watching someone get up at 8 am and guzzling a beer is stomach-churning) and sat in a chair just waking up at twilight. So I pulled a trick on him.
Since he needed to get up around dawn, and dusk was about the same, my roomie and I pretended to be leaving for OUR jobs. And roused Jim and told him he was going to be late for work! He panicked and rushed out of the house. Give us some credit here, we made sure he was actually functional and sober, just accepting our actions based on half-light.
When he came back, realizing it was getting darker not lighter outside, and we were both sitting around watching TV instead of leaving for work ourselves, he was stunned.
We cracked up.
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Daylight Saving Time
Saturday night as I went to bed, I moved the bedroom clock up an hour. That makes it easier to adjust to Daylight Saving Time. It's easier to think of going to bed late than to suddenly lose an hour the next day. There is sometimes benefits to playing tricks with one's own mind, LOL!
In the morning Sunday, I just got up and dealt with the time. Since I don't keep regular hours going to bed or getting up, it isn't hard. In fact, I got up at a generally "regular" time, so neither mind nor body objected.
The annoying part is all the other clocks in the morning. I have an unusual number of them. There are 4 in the kitchen alone; the oven, the M/W and 2 analog wall clocks on opposite walls.
There are 5 in the TV room. One a radio signal one that tells time, month/day/date, year, inside temperature, outside temperature, and inside humidity. It a fun item, but mostly it is always accurate with the radio signal update and serves as the basis for setting all the other clocks. Aside from that one there is the cordless phone, the cable box one, the VCR one, and an analog wall clock. I don't bother with the VCR one, I put electric tape over the display a decade ago. I know HOW to change it, I just don't need it. I'd do the same with the cable box, but it also shows the channel sometimes.
The Living room has only one digital clock, but it is a very useful one. It shows the day of the week in LARGE LETTERS; something very useful if you are retired and so don't have the kind of schedule that forces you to normally keep track of that. And it is the first room I walk into in the morning, so that's the best place for it. Don't laugh TOO hard, but sometimes after I get up and am dressed and about the house, I notice it is "Thursday" when I thought it was "Wednesday". Its not like it may sound; mostly I just need to know "weekday" from "weekend" (because I never do shopping on weekends). Too crowded...
The Bedroom has 3 clocks. The old digital clock/radio/alarm that I only use as "clock" these days. The radio part was always awful, the alarm annoying to set. So I just use a kitchen timer as an alarm clock. Whenever I go to bed, I just set the timer to 9 hours (so easy). If I wake up before it goes off and feel rested, I get up. If it goes off and I don't feel rested, I just set it for another hour. As I said, my hours are very flexible.
The 2nd Bedroom "clock" is only an analog day clock. All it does is show the day of the week. The face is divided into days and that is ALL it tells you. If you looked at it carefully, you could judge early morning, late morning, etc. But if you need that level of help, you probably NEED some other kinds of help, LOL! I only have it because I hadn't found that Living room digital one at the time.
The 3rd Bedroom clock is equally not mainly for telling time but it does have a clock on it. It is really a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer that tells me the minimum and maximum temperatures and the click of a button. It's for gardening information but of course they just HAD to but a time display on it. I will say, that since it is in the Bedroom and battery powered, it the electricity fails (so the clock radio blinks at me, it is easier to tell the time than finding my eyeglasses to read my wristwatch to tell what time it is.
The Computer room has 3 clocks in it. Two are on the computers. One computer is online, so it automatically updated. The other computer is standalone (for games but also security; I keep my passwords and asset trends on a spreadsheet there. The clock there doesn't actually matter, but it can being confusing if I want to make sure I stop playing a game by a certain planned bedtime. And I'll be darned, THAT'S the one I forgot to change today (doing it now). The 3rd is a digital wall clock. Well, just because I don't always wake up the computer when I walk into the room...
The Basement has 2 analog clocks. One is a cool/unusual. It is a woodworking equipment company brand one. I was buying something and one of those exhibition shows and knew they were selling the item at a discount. But I was negotiating. I was asking for more than the demonstrator was willing to give and noticed he had a 12" analog clock showing the company (which I liked). So I said "Throw in the clock and you have a deal". He looked back at the clock and said "You have to be kidding". But I now have the bench planer and the clock (which has kept perfect time for 20 years, is easy to read [large black hands on a yellow face], and gets comments. The other clock is a standard cheap analog type for where I can't see the large. I actually need clocks in the basement. Otherwise, I stay down there too late...
The Cat room has no clocks in it. Well, there IS one, but I keep the battery out. It ticks loudly. Same for a pendulum wall clock in the Computer room, BTW. I sleep lightly
That leaves 2 clocks. One is my wristwatch. I hate my wristwatch. I can set it, but it takes work and experimentation. The buttons aren't labeled, not are they intuitive. And with buttons sticking out of it, I am constantly accidentally changing it to 24 hour time or timer or alarm. And it has a black display over a grey background. But other ones were more complicated or gaudy.
My previous wristwatch was a Sears Phasar with an easily readable black display on a white background. My Dad gave it to me when I left for college in 1968. It kept perfect time. The replacement battery was inexpensive. The settings buttons were recessed (which meant that you needed a paperclip on old pen to depress them, but you couldn't change things by accident.
The last clock is in the car. Easy to change. Dedicated hour and minute buttons, so today it was just one push and I was done.
The Fall changeback takes longer. Digital clocks beed to be advanced forward 23 hours, not 1 forward. Many analog clocks get messed up being turned backwards, so you have to manually turn a slow button on the back 23 hours.
But I love Daylight Saving Time. Same TV schedule, but an hour later of light. And since I never get up at dawn, I personally DO get an extra hour of light each day. I spent my extra hour today deciding where to transplant some specimen tree saplings to in the area I chopped out the brambles in the far back yard, snipping out old growth on perennials, and cutting out some small briars and brambles from around flowerbeds preparing for new growth.
In the morning Sunday, I just got up and dealt with the time. Since I don't keep regular hours going to bed or getting up, it isn't hard. In fact, I got up at a generally "regular" time, so neither mind nor body objected.
The annoying part is all the other clocks in the morning. I have an unusual number of them. There are 4 in the kitchen alone; the oven, the M/W and 2 analog wall clocks on opposite walls.
There are 5 in the TV room. One a radio signal one that tells time, month/day/date, year, inside temperature, outside temperature, and inside humidity. It a fun item, but mostly it is always accurate with the radio signal update and serves as the basis for setting all the other clocks. Aside from that one there is the cordless phone, the cable box one, the VCR one, and an analog wall clock. I don't bother with the VCR one, I put electric tape over the display a decade ago. I know HOW to change it, I just don't need it. I'd do the same with the cable box, but it also shows the channel sometimes.
The Living room has only one digital clock, but it is a very useful one. It shows the day of the week in LARGE LETTERS; something very useful if you are retired and so don't have the kind of schedule that forces you to normally keep track of that. And it is the first room I walk into in the morning, so that's the best place for it. Don't laugh TOO hard, but sometimes after I get up and am dressed and about the house, I notice it is "Thursday" when I thought it was "Wednesday". Its not like it may sound; mostly I just need to know "weekday" from "weekend" (because I never do shopping on weekends). Too crowded...
The Bedroom has 3 clocks. The old digital clock/radio/alarm that I only use as "clock" these days. The radio part was always awful, the alarm annoying to set. So I just use a kitchen timer as an alarm clock. Whenever I go to bed, I just set the timer to 9 hours (so easy). If I wake up before it goes off and feel rested, I get up. If it goes off and I don't feel rested, I just set it for another hour. As I said, my hours are very flexible.
The 2nd Bedroom "clock" is only an analog day clock. All it does is show the day of the week. The face is divided into days and that is ALL it tells you. If you looked at it carefully, you could judge early morning, late morning, etc. But if you need that level of help, you probably NEED some other kinds of help, LOL! I only have it because I hadn't found that Living room digital one at the time.
The 3rd Bedroom clock is equally not mainly for telling time but it does have a clock on it. It is really a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer that tells me the minimum and maximum temperatures and the click of a button. It's for gardening information but of course they just HAD to but a time display on it. I will say, that since it is in the Bedroom and battery powered, it the electricity fails (so the clock radio blinks at me, it is easier to tell the time than finding my eyeglasses to read my wristwatch to tell what time it is.
The Computer room has 3 clocks in it. Two are on the computers. One computer is online, so it automatically updated. The other computer is standalone (for games but also security; I keep my passwords and asset trends on a spreadsheet there. The clock there doesn't actually matter, but it can being confusing if I want to make sure I stop playing a game by a certain planned bedtime. And I'll be darned, THAT'S the one I forgot to change today (doing it now). The 3rd is a digital wall clock. Well, just because I don't always wake up the computer when I walk into the room...
The Basement has 2 analog clocks. One is a cool/unusual. It is a woodworking equipment company brand one. I was buying something and one of those exhibition shows and knew they were selling the item at a discount. But I was negotiating. I was asking for more than the demonstrator was willing to give and noticed he had a 12" analog clock showing the company (which I liked). So I said "Throw in the clock and you have a deal". He looked back at the clock and said "You have to be kidding". But I now have the bench planer and the clock (which has kept perfect time for 20 years, is easy to read [large black hands on a yellow face], and gets comments. The other clock is a standard cheap analog type for where I can't see the large. I actually need clocks in the basement. Otherwise, I stay down there too late...
The Cat room has no clocks in it. Well, there IS one, but I keep the battery out. It ticks loudly. Same for a pendulum wall clock in the Computer room, BTW. I sleep lightly
That leaves 2 clocks. One is my wristwatch. I hate my wristwatch. I can set it, but it takes work and experimentation. The buttons aren't labeled, not are they intuitive. And with buttons sticking out of it, I am constantly accidentally changing it to 24 hour time or timer or alarm. And it has a black display over a grey background. But other ones were more complicated or gaudy.
My previous wristwatch was a Sears Phasar with an easily readable black display on a white background. My Dad gave it to me when I left for college in 1968. It kept perfect time. The replacement battery was inexpensive. The settings buttons were recessed (which meant that you needed a paperclip on old pen to depress them, but you couldn't change things by accident.
The last clock is in the car. Easy to change. Dedicated hour and minute buttons, so today it was just one push and I was done.
The Fall changeback takes longer. Digital clocks beed to be advanced forward 23 hours, not 1 forward. Many analog clocks get messed up being turned backwards, so you have to manually turn a slow button on the back 23 hours.
But I love Daylight Saving Time. Same TV schedule, but an hour later of light. And since I never get up at dawn, I personally DO get an extra hour of light each day. I spent my extra hour today deciding where to transplant some specimen tree saplings to in the area I chopped out the brambles in the far back yard, snipping out old growth on perennials, and cutting out some small briars and brambles from around flowerbeds preparing for new growth.
Monday, March 4, 2019
Retirement Anniversary
I almost missed it this year! I retired 13 years ago March 1st. I haven't regretted a day of it!
I retired the first day I was eligible for a full annuity. Many co-workers were surprised, for various reasons.
1. Because I seemed to really enjoy the work I did. And I did. It wasn't routine work. I wasn't following old procedures every day. And it allowed me to solve new and different problems.
2. I was allowed great freedom in what I chose to do. Most office workers aren't. Apparently, many co-workers were envious. I could say a lot about being a "self-starter", and bringing "solutions to Management rather than problems", but I bet most of you reading this are like that and don't need it explained. But I had many co-workers who were not. I recall reading a humorous collection of (probably fake) personnel evaluations and one said "Works OK if watched constantly and trapped like a rat in his cubicle".
3. A number of co-workers asked how I could retire financially at 55. Well I had carpool members who lived paycheck-to-paycheck and they didn't have to. They talked about vacations, new cars, moving to larger houses, eating out a couple times a week, movies, etc. I didn't do a lot of those things.
Now, I didn't grow up poor. My Dad had a good Government salary (GS-15) and while Mom and Dad were careful with money (grew up in The Great Depression), we kids had what we needed, good food, and nice Christmases. But once I left home, I spent years in poverty myself (refusing to ask for help). And I mean roach-infested apartments I shared with several other guys, minimum-wage jobs, and Hamburger Helper...
But I saved as much as I could. Every promotion meant half the increase went into savings and finally into index stock funds. When I could finally buy a house, I had to borrow the down payment from my parents (at market rates and a firm repayment schedule). But I paid that early, bought a new car 2 years later, refinanced the mortgage to 20 years, then 10, and finally paid off the original 30 year mortgage in 14 years.
My average car has lasted about 10 years (current one 12 and likely to go to 15) and 2 of them were cheap junk (a Chevette Scooter and a used Chevy Vega Hatchback, and my first 2 cars were rather old, so they didn't have much left to give), so the average lifespan would be higher otherwise.
So back to my co-workers' question about how I could retire at 55. They bought new cars every 3 or 4 years. I kept mine 8-10. They spent money as fast as they earned it. I saved and invested. They went to restaurants once a week for $20 each; I learned to cook.
4. The other question I got was "but what will you DO all day"? That was my favorite question! I had so much I wanted to do, I couldn't do it in the time I had off work. Too few people have a life outside of work (other than going out on the town). I had too many hobbies and interests I couldn't wait to do more of.
Subject and replies:
Gardening: "But you can just buy food at the grocery store".
Yardwork: "So just hire someone".
Woodworking: "You can just buy furniture, you know".
Cats: "They just ruin your furniture".
Computer Games: "Yeah, I like Angry Birds (or whatever was popular in 2006)". But I was stretching my mind with complex strategy games.
Cooking: "Pizza Hut delivers".
Fishing: ""Icky".
Etc... I went bowling, I went golfing, I went fishing. I gardened, I worked in the yard, I built small furniture, I enjoyed staying up late at night to see things on TV I had never been able to see before, listened to long pieces of music and watched weird DVDs (Heavy Metal, Fantasia, and Wizards, and bought science/history/nature ones.
I played Civ2 a lot (a game where you you start with a primitive Settler and built until you can hopefully launch a spaceship. And then there was a multi-player version where you could play other people from all over the world. After a YEAR of learning how to play it properly, I learned how to design new worlds for other people to play.
Then I organized the one and only worldwide Civ2 Tournament. That didn't come from nowhere. In college, I was the President of the University Chess Club for my last 2 years there. It didn't mean that I was the best player (I was nearly the worst), just that I could keep the meetings organized and I also learned to manage campus tournaments.
So I took that old chess club organizing experience and managed the Civ2 tournament. It was one of the most difficult things I ever organized. Just try to imagine the negotiations involved in getting some player in Australia to play a person in Italy, or Japan with England. But I finally got 12 of the 16 best players to play several rounds to get to a Final Two.
They played (and as always, I was a non-player viewer), and it was a close game. As I promised, I made a small trophy of shaped wood painted red with a rearing horseman on the top with a small plaque announcing the winner. The other players of the game followed the games and cheered the Winner.
The individual players only had to be there in their local time (like the Japan guy was up early to play and the English guy stayed up late), but I had to be available 24/7 for all games. It was worth the effort; something new, something I had not tried before, something no one had done before. But I also announced that I would never try it again, LOL!
All this is mostly a reminder to myself about what I've done after retirement, and why. A lot of this blog is just me talking out loud about things that may not matter to others. It doesn't HAVE to mean much of anything to other people. But if it does, that's good.
I've enjoyed my retirement, and I hope to for a long time. I am suited to retirement. And this might sound odd, but there was never anything in particular that I ever wanted to do in life. Just do some job well, and enjoy my time here usefully. I've done and am doing that.
If nothing else, celebrate my retirement time with me...
I retired the first day I was eligible for a full annuity. Many co-workers were surprised, for various reasons.
1. Because I seemed to really enjoy the work I did. And I did. It wasn't routine work. I wasn't following old procedures every day. And it allowed me to solve new and different problems.
2. I was allowed great freedom in what I chose to do. Most office workers aren't. Apparently, many co-workers were envious. I could say a lot about being a "self-starter", and bringing "solutions to Management rather than problems", but I bet most of you reading this are like that and don't need it explained. But I had many co-workers who were not. I recall reading a humorous collection of (probably fake) personnel evaluations and one said "Works OK if watched constantly and trapped like a rat in his cubicle".
3. A number of co-workers asked how I could retire financially at 55. Well I had carpool members who lived paycheck-to-paycheck and they didn't have to. They talked about vacations, new cars, moving to larger houses, eating out a couple times a week, movies, etc. I didn't do a lot of those things.
Now, I didn't grow up poor. My Dad had a good Government salary (GS-15) and while Mom and Dad were careful with money (grew up in The Great Depression), we kids had what we needed, good food, and nice Christmases. But once I left home, I spent years in poverty myself (refusing to ask for help). And I mean roach-infested apartments I shared with several other guys, minimum-wage jobs, and Hamburger Helper...
But I saved as much as I could. Every promotion meant half the increase went into savings and finally into index stock funds. When I could finally buy a house, I had to borrow the down payment from my parents (at market rates and a firm repayment schedule). But I paid that early, bought a new car 2 years later, refinanced the mortgage to 20 years, then 10, and finally paid off the original 30 year mortgage in 14 years.
My average car has lasted about 10 years (current one 12 and likely to go to 15) and 2 of them were cheap junk (a Chevette Scooter and a used Chevy Vega Hatchback, and my first 2 cars were rather old, so they didn't have much left to give), so the average lifespan would be higher otherwise.
So back to my co-workers' question about how I could retire at 55. They bought new cars every 3 or 4 years. I kept mine 8-10. They spent money as fast as they earned it. I saved and invested. They went to restaurants once a week for $20 each; I learned to cook.
4. The other question I got was "but what will you DO all day"? That was my favorite question! I had so much I wanted to do, I couldn't do it in the time I had off work. Too few people have a life outside of work (other than going out on the town). I had too many hobbies and interests I couldn't wait to do more of.
Subject and replies:
Gardening: "But you can just buy food at the grocery store".
Yardwork: "So just hire someone".
Woodworking: "You can just buy furniture, you know".
Cats: "They just ruin your furniture".
Computer Games: "Yeah, I like Angry Birds (or whatever was popular in 2006)". But I was stretching my mind with complex strategy games.
Cooking: "Pizza Hut delivers".
Fishing: ""Icky".
Etc... I went bowling, I went golfing, I went fishing. I gardened, I worked in the yard, I built small furniture, I enjoyed staying up late at night to see things on TV I had never been able to see before, listened to long pieces of music and watched weird DVDs (Heavy Metal, Fantasia, and Wizards, and bought science/history/nature ones.
I played Civ2 a lot (a game where you you start with a primitive Settler and built until you can hopefully launch a spaceship. And then there was a multi-player version where you could play other people from all over the world. After a YEAR of learning how to play it properly, I learned how to design new worlds for other people to play.
Then I organized the one and only worldwide Civ2 Tournament. That didn't come from nowhere. In college, I was the President of the University Chess Club for my last 2 years there. It didn't mean that I was the best player (I was nearly the worst), just that I could keep the meetings organized and I also learned to manage campus tournaments.
So I took that old chess club organizing experience and managed the Civ2 tournament. It was one of the most difficult things I ever organized. Just try to imagine the negotiations involved in getting some player in Australia to play a person in Italy, or Japan with England. But I finally got 12 of the 16 best players to play several rounds to get to a Final Two.
They played (and as always, I was a non-player viewer), and it was a close game. As I promised, I made a small trophy of shaped wood painted red with a rearing horseman on the top with a small plaque announcing the winner. The other players of the game followed the games and cheered the Winner.
The individual players only had to be there in their local time (like the Japan guy was up early to play and the English guy stayed up late), but I had to be available 24/7 for all games. It was worth the effort; something new, something I had not tried before, something no one had done before. But I also announced that I would never try it again, LOL!
All this is mostly a reminder to myself about what I've done after retirement, and why. A lot of this blog is just me talking out loud about things that may not matter to others. It doesn't HAVE to mean much of anything to other people. But if it does, that's good.
I've enjoyed my retirement, and I hope to for a long time. I am suited to retirement. And this might sound odd, but there was never anything in particular that I ever wanted to do in life. Just do some job well, and enjoy my time here usefully. I've done and am doing that.
If nothing else, celebrate my retirement time with me...
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Commercial Returns A Memory.
I saw a commercial today where some city types were in a country diner and asked about how hot/spicy the meal was. The waitress said they had to sign a waiver, and the guy in the next booth snickered.
I've been there...
During the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, a friend and I decided to camp in Canada for 2 weeks. We had been at the place 3 years before in the regular campgrounds, but we had decided to try some "primitive camping". There were 2 options for getting there. You could be electric-motor powered to the sites by the camp with some weight limitations or they would just give you a canoe and you were on your own.
I am a good canoer and an experienced camper. And I wanted to hike through the woods each day. My friend said he was too and wanted to do the same. Falser words were never spoken...
We loaded our backpacks full of dried food, tiny white gas stoves to heat the dried food with water, and tent etc into the canoe. We struck out early in the morning. I being the smaller guy in the front to guide the canoe and he being the bigger stronger guy in the back.
I immediately realized that my friend had the canoe-paddling skills of a cow. I'll continue about that another day.
But the point is that on the way out of the US, we barely could gas up on the even/odd day on my license plate. We had 2 hours and stopped at the last Chinese retaurant before crossing the border. And it was a real Chinese restaurant. There were real Chinese people eating there. The menu was in Chinese!
So we saw an old guy eating a dish of chicken and red bell peppers and that looked safe so we said we would have that. They weren't bell peppers. They were some hot pepper that would peel paint off walls.
We utterly died! I'm a real wimp when it comes to hot spicy things. "Mild" makes my scalp drip sweat. My friend likes "hot chili" and even he was sweating. The old guy laughed and ate 3 superhot peppers while we watched. But we were very hungry and poor, so we ate as much of the chicken as we could. We still remember the 100 Megaton Chicken...
We got into Canada just before midnight with a full tank of gas.
Chicken was not a success on the trip. More about "special chicken" tomorrow...
I've been there...
During the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, a friend and I decided to camp in Canada for 2 weeks. We had been at the place 3 years before in the regular campgrounds, but we had decided to try some "primitive camping". There were 2 options for getting there. You could be electric-motor powered to the sites by the camp with some weight limitations or they would just give you a canoe and you were on your own.
I am a good canoer and an experienced camper. And I wanted to hike through the woods each day. My friend said he was too and wanted to do the same. Falser words were never spoken...
We loaded our backpacks full of dried food, tiny white gas stoves to heat the dried food with water, and tent etc into the canoe. We struck out early in the morning. I being the smaller guy in the front to guide the canoe and he being the bigger stronger guy in the back.
I immediately realized that my friend had the canoe-paddling skills of a cow. I'll continue about that another day.
But the point is that on the way out of the US, we barely could gas up on the even/odd day on my license plate. We had 2 hours and stopped at the last Chinese retaurant before crossing the border. And it was a real Chinese restaurant. There were real Chinese people eating there. The menu was in Chinese!
So we saw an old guy eating a dish of chicken and red bell peppers and that looked safe so we said we would have that. They weren't bell peppers. They were some hot pepper that would peel paint off walls.
We utterly died! I'm a real wimp when it comes to hot spicy things. "Mild" makes my scalp drip sweat. My friend likes "hot chili" and even he was sweating. The old guy laughed and ate 3 superhot peppers while we watched. But we were very hungry and poor, so we ate as much of the chicken as we could. We still remember the 100 Megaton Chicken...
We got into Canada just before midnight with a full tank of gas.
Chicken was not a success on the trip. More about "special chicken" tomorrow...
Saturday, March 2, 2019
Stuff I Filed
I've just re-read the letters again. It's too hard to discuss them.
One letter I can discuss. When we got internet access at work, the first thing I searched was "atheism" (I'm an atheist). The second thing I looked up was the 'Clan Of The Cave Bear' books by Jean Auel. I loved those books. It took a few months before I found a discussion group about them. It was early/mid 90's.
I had been using the internet handle "cavebear" for months because of the books, and when I found the discussion group, I suddenly realized that my handle might seem a bit presumptuous. So I asked permission. They thought that was OK, and I have been "cavebear" on the internet most places for 25 years now.
But things can slowly go wrong on discussion sites. Some guy joined and charmed all the ladies and attacked most of the guys. I called him a drive-by-poster (like drive by shooter) and suddenly I was a "troll" for disagreeing with him.
I left the discussion board so as to not cause further contention, and truth to tell, I was spending so much time there that I wasn't doing much in real life. I left a very polite post saying that I had to get my real life back and I loved them all, but had to leave.
SO, the letter I came across today was from one of the members right after I left. She had visited Washington, DC and was staying close to where I worked on business the year before. We had met for lunch and visited the Smithsonian after. I hadn't returned to the discussion board after announcing I had left. She sent me a 6 page letter AND included all the discuss and comments about my leaving.
I had forgotten about it, but on re-reading it, all the replies were that they really liked my posts and missed my observations. Even the guy who pretty much drove me away posted that he would wiss my sharp challenging comments.
I think he was lying through his teeth. I think he noticed that so many people liked my posts that he didn't want to be in the minority. He was a mean SOB! I couldn't post anything that he wouldn't find a trivial statement he wouldn't build into a major arguement. I didn't understand then about people who accuse you of being what they are (trolls who enjoy meanness) like Donald Trump.
I am debating whether to post this or delete it. Sometimes posts like this are "iffy". I think I'll post it.
One letter I can discuss. When we got internet access at work, the first thing I searched was "atheism" (I'm an atheist). The second thing I looked up was the 'Clan Of The Cave Bear' books by Jean Auel. I loved those books. It took a few months before I found a discussion group about them. It was early/mid 90's.
I had been using the internet handle "cavebear" for months because of the books, and when I found the discussion group, I suddenly realized that my handle might seem a bit presumptuous. So I asked permission. They thought that was OK, and I have been "cavebear" on the internet most places for 25 years now.
But things can slowly go wrong on discussion sites. Some guy joined and charmed all the ladies and attacked most of the guys. I called him a drive-by-poster (like drive by shooter) and suddenly I was a "troll" for disagreeing with him.
I left the discussion board so as to not cause further contention, and truth to tell, I was spending so much time there that I wasn't doing much in real life. I left a very polite post saying that I had to get my real life back and I loved them all, but had to leave.
SO, the letter I came across today was from one of the members right after I left. She had visited Washington, DC and was staying close to where I worked on business the year before. We had met for lunch and visited the Smithsonian after. I hadn't returned to the discussion board after announcing I had left. She sent me a 6 page letter AND included all the discuss and comments about my leaving.
I had forgotten about it, but on re-reading it, all the replies were that they really liked my posts and missed my observations. Even the guy who pretty much drove me away posted that he would wiss my sharp challenging comments.
I think he was lying through his teeth. I think he noticed that so many people liked my posts that he didn't want to be in the minority. He was a mean SOB! I couldn't post anything that he wouldn't find a trivial statement he wouldn't build into a major arguement. I didn't understand then about people who accuse you of being what they are (trolls who enjoy meanness) like Donald Trump.
I am debating whether to post this or delete it. Sometimes posts like this are "iffy". I think I'll post it.
Friday, March 1, 2019
A Good Day
Some days you spend all day doing routine work around the house. Some days you spend all day doing one major infrequent task. Some days you accomplish a lot of fairly unusual stuff.
Today was the last type...
1. My online Mac computer had looked stretched out for a couple of days. Symbols that were supposed to be circles were ovals, the text seemed oddly spaced, some sidebars weren't showing all the information they usually do, and people in pictures looked fat. I had tried a couple of times to correct that in my settings and window sizes, but nothing worked.
2. My offline Windows 95 computer (that I bought a month ago for playing some old favorite games suddenly stopped working). I had just bought cheap speakers for it and there both a typical small round plug and a USB connector on the same speaker wire. There were no actual instructions in the box, so I made a best guess and plugged in the round plug into each of the several small round port in the back. Nothing. So I unplugged that and tried the USB port. Nothing. Then I tried both. Nothing. So I unplugged the speakers entirely assuming they didn't work with such an old computer.
When I restarted the computer, instead of the usual Windows 95 demand to press f1 for setup or Esc to boot, I got a message saying to insert a bootable disk. Naturally, in my cleanup campaign last Fall, I had tossed old "useless" software like the original Win 95 and Win 98 disks... I figured I had shorted something, messed up the installed Win 95 software, or something and would have to haul the tower to the local PC repair shop.
3. I have never been a dedicated paper filer. Oh, I'm ORGANIZED. A file folder for everything. But I tend to just drop stuff on the top of the file cabinet to file "later". The stack was 6" high and I needed several things in it. But sorting the stack out meant I needed space, and my dining table was clutterred. Recipes, DIY articles, computer and security advice, gardening suggestions, medical articles, etc. Yeah, I'm a "clipper". So to de-clutter the table meant I had to file stuff. Catch-22!
----------------------
So, today I decided to tackle those annoying problems...
1. I tried another round of correcting the setting on the Mac, to no success. For those who don't have a Mac (and having used both Macs and Windows, I make no judgement). But I use a Mac online, so you can tell which I prefer. And to those of you who use a Mac and have experienced the Finder App, you understand why. The other joy is the way Macs can stay in sleep mode without problems.
But it occurred to me that some problems can be solved just by restarting a computer. So I actually went a step further and SHUT IT OFF! First time in months... After a few minutes, I started it back up. Problem solved! Everything looks normal again. I concluded it was one of those "cats on the keyboard" things. Macs have loads of keyboard shortcuts, and the cats frequently (randomly) activate some and I have to admit some of them take time to figure out how to undo.
One problem solved...
2. Encouraged by that, I sat down at the bewly-purchased old Windows computer. I tried restarting it. No luck. I tried shutting it down. No luck. I tried unplugging it from the surge protector for a few minutes. No luck. Same message demanding a bootable disk. Considering that a visit to the PC repair shop was sure to cost at $200, I was about to but Windows 95 from Amazon or eBay, but them I recalled the stacks of game disks on the bookshelf. I recalled that when I switched form Windows to Mac I had copied all my Windows folders to writable CDs. Mac apps can read most standard Windows formats like .doc, .xls, .jpegs, etc. And I had saved those (and in fact I think there are old pic and docs and even emails that I should retrieve, having deleted some trying to solve a storage proble. 8 years ago, but that is a future project).
What I recalled having ALSO done was copy the entire old Windows C drive the last time I bought a new one (on advice from a clipped article - that's why I clip stuff). And sorting through about 30 jewel case of disks, there it was! A CD labelled "Original From Store Basic Win 98 Configuration" dated 4/23/99...
I hoped the Bootable File would work. I slipped it into the CD drive, restarted the computer, and "Lo And Behold", up came the desired request to choose setup or boot. I chose setup, which means the computer wants you to establish the date and time, display resolution, etc, just like the first time I started it after purchase. It opened Win 95 again, and sure enough, the few files I had added since purchase where there.
When that was done, I took out the old CD copy of the Win 98 program, slipped in the game disk (Civilization II - Best non-real-time play-at-your-own-speed strategic fighting and city-building game of all time... And I could play it again!
Two problems solved...
3. The paperwork filing was in no way tricky, just unbelievably tedious. To make room om the dining table, I sorted out all the clipped articles and set them on the kitchen counters (at this point do I really need to tell you that I had to clean the kitchen first, LOL!)? So after that, I had an empty table to sort out the bills. It's amazing how many types of them there were. Some are monthly or quarterly, so I knew they needed their own spots. Some come in a bunch at once (like vet bills). Some are nearly one-offs (stuff that isn't regular). Those got their own stack. Some were tossable (like the 2017 recycling pickup schedule and my 2018 Health Care Insurance Plan summary).
Iza wanted to help, so that meant rearranging a few stacks. But I eventually got them all sorted out. Which them meant arranging each group by date. Finding the dates on some bills can be hard (companies that keep rearranging the layout on their bills should be penalized).
But I started with the smallest stacks and arranged them on the floor by date (Iza was happy to help again). I filed those. That finally left some space on the table and I got through all the stacks, filing as I went. What a relief. And I found a few of the documents I was looking for. I even had some letters and poems that had stayed on the bottom of the stack the previous time I had sorted and filed stuff.
I think I should end this post and discuss those next time...
But today had some good endings and that doesn't always happen. So I'm pretty pleased with the day's work. And of course that doesn't count the routine stuff. I'm celebrating getting the odd stuff done.
Today was the last type...
1. My online Mac computer had looked stretched out for a couple of days. Symbols that were supposed to be circles were ovals, the text seemed oddly spaced, some sidebars weren't showing all the information they usually do, and people in pictures looked fat. I had tried a couple of times to correct that in my settings and window sizes, but nothing worked.
2. My offline Windows 95 computer (that I bought a month ago for playing some old favorite games suddenly stopped working). I had just bought cheap speakers for it and there both a typical small round plug and a USB connector on the same speaker wire. There were no actual instructions in the box, so I made a best guess and plugged in the round plug into each of the several small round port in the back. Nothing. So I unplugged that and tried the USB port. Nothing. Then I tried both. Nothing. So I unplugged the speakers entirely assuming they didn't work with such an old computer.
When I restarted the computer, instead of the usual Windows 95 demand to press f1 for setup or Esc to boot, I got a message saying to insert a bootable disk. Naturally, in my cleanup campaign last Fall, I had tossed old "useless" software like the original Win 95 and Win 98 disks... I figured I had shorted something, messed up the installed Win 95 software, or something and would have to haul the tower to the local PC repair shop.
3. I have never been a dedicated paper filer. Oh, I'm ORGANIZED. A file folder for everything. But I tend to just drop stuff on the top of the file cabinet to file "later". The stack was 6" high and I needed several things in it. But sorting the stack out meant I needed space, and my dining table was clutterred. Recipes, DIY articles, computer and security advice, gardening suggestions, medical articles, etc. Yeah, I'm a "clipper". So to de-clutter the table meant I had to file stuff. Catch-22!
----------------------
So, today I decided to tackle those annoying problems...
1. I tried another round of correcting the setting on the Mac, to no success. For those who don't have a Mac (and having used both Macs and Windows, I make no judgement). But I use a Mac online, so you can tell which I prefer. And to those of you who use a Mac and have experienced the Finder App, you understand why. The other joy is the way Macs can stay in sleep mode without problems.
But it occurred to me that some problems can be solved just by restarting a computer. So I actually went a step further and SHUT IT OFF! First time in months... After a few minutes, I started it back up. Problem solved! Everything looks normal again. I concluded it was one of those "cats on the keyboard" things. Macs have loads of keyboard shortcuts, and the cats frequently (randomly) activate some and I have to admit some of them take time to figure out how to undo.
One problem solved...
2. Encouraged by that, I sat down at the bewly-purchased old Windows computer. I tried restarting it. No luck. I tried shutting it down. No luck. I tried unplugging it from the surge protector for a few minutes. No luck. Same message demanding a bootable disk. Considering that a visit to the PC repair shop was sure to cost at $200, I was about to but Windows 95 from Amazon or eBay, but them I recalled the stacks of game disks on the bookshelf. I recalled that when I switched form Windows to Mac I had copied all my Windows folders to writable CDs. Mac apps can read most standard Windows formats like .doc, .xls, .jpegs, etc. And I had saved those (and in fact I think there are old pic and docs and even emails that I should retrieve, having deleted some trying to solve a storage proble. 8 years ago, but that is a future project).
What I recalled having ALSO done was copy the entire old Windows C drive the last time I bought a new one (on advice from a clipped article - that's why I clip stuff). And sorting through about 30 jewel case of disks, there it was! A CD labelled "Original From Store Basic Win 98 Configuration" dated 4/23/99...
I hoped the Bootable File would work. I slipped it into the CD drive, restarted the computer, and "Lo And Behold", up came the desired request to choose setup or boot. I chose setup, which means the computer wants you to establish the date and time, display resolution, etc, just like the first time I started it after purchase. It opened Win 95 again, and sure enough, the few files I had added since purchase where there.
When that was done, I took out the old CD copy of the Win 98 program, slipped in the game disk (Civilization II - Best non-real-time play-at-your-own-speed strategic fighting and city-building game of all time... And I could play it again!
Two problems solved...
3. The paperwork filing was in no way tricky, just unbelievably tedious. To make room om the dining table, I sorted out all the clipped articles and set them on the kitchen counters (at this point do I really need to tell you that I had to clean the kitchen first, LOL!)? So after that, I had an empty table to sort out the bills. It's amazing how many types of them there were. Some are monthly or quarterly, so I knew they needed their own spots. Some come in a bunch at once (like vet bills). Some are nearly one-offs (stuff that isn't regular). Those got their own stack. Some were tossable (like the 2017 recycling pickup schedule and my 2018 Health Care Insurance Plan summary).
Iza wanted to help, so that meant rearranging a few stacks. But I eventually got them all sorted out. Which them meant arranging each group by date. Finding the dates on some bills can be hard (companies that keep rearranging the layout on their bills should be penalized).
But I started with the smallest stacks and arranged them on the floor by date (Iza was happy to help again). I filed those. That finally left some space on the table and I got through all the stacks, filing as I went. What a relief. And I found a few of the documents I was looking for. I even had some letters and poems that had stayed on the bottom of the stack the previous time I had sorted and filed stuff.
I think I should end this post and discuss those next time...
But today had some good endings and that doesn't always happen. So I'm pretty pleased with the day's work. And of course that doesn't count the routine stuff. I'm celebrating getting the odd stuff done.
Friday, February 22, 2019
Xmas Decorations
I finally boxed up my Xmas decorations today. Yay!!!
It's not as bad as it may seem. You see, I had them in all sorts of odd boxes and I wanted to rearrange them into a few identically-sized ones. And by type. OK, I got a bit obsessive about it.
Like, what goes with a 20 pound enameled steel tree stand? I had door-sized ribbons, large bubble-lights, plastic 2' candy canes, a WHOLE lot of glass pine cones/icicles/snowflakes, bird nests with wooden eggs, etc, etc, etc.
And trying to use identical-sized boxes as I mentioned.
Well, I did it. And here's the cool thing. I took 2' along the wall of the cat's room (they are OK with that, I asked first) a few years ago and installed a pipe up near the ceiling. And hung shower curtains exactly that height on the pipe. I even store the vacuum cleaners and such behind there.
Looks great. The Xmas boxes are all packed in (stack perfectly). Done... They are packed so nicely, I might not even decorate next Xmas... ;) Its the thought that counts, right?
It's not as bad as it may seem. You see, I had them in all sorts of odd boxes and I wanted to rearrange them into a few identically-sized ones. And by type. OK, I got a bit obsessive about it.
Like, what goes with a 20 pound enameled steel tree stand? I had door-sized ribbons, large bubble-lights, plastic 2' candy canes, a WHOLE lot of glass pine cones/icicles/snowflakes, bird nests with wooden eggs, etc, etc, etc.
And trying to use identical-sized boxes as I mentioned.
Well, I did it. And here's the cool thing. I took 2' along the wall of the cat's room (they are OK with that, I asked first) a few years ago and installed a pipe up near the ceiling. And hung shower curtains exactly that height on the pipe. I even store the vacuum cleaners and such behind there.
Looks great. The Xmas boxes are all packed in (stack perfectly). Done... They are packed so nicely, I might not even decorate next Xmas... ;) Its the thought that counts, right?
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
An Odd Spammer
I was suddenly getting 6+ calls per day from a nearby local electrical company (so the phone display said) for several days. I generlly ignore such calls. But when they get too frequent, I like to play games with the callers. And I was getting tired of deleting the "missed calls" manually.
So I picked up the phone. The person I spoke to couldn't get my name right at all:
Hello, are you Nark Via"?
No.
Is Nark Via at home this day?
No.
Who am I speaking to?
Who are you?
I must talk to Nark Via!
Please check your list and get my name right.
Are you [my name]?
Yes.
Why didn't you say so?
You didn't say my name
I said your name. Are you deaf?
I hear you fine. Can you speak English?
Drink poison and die!
CLICK
Later that day, same phone display name BG&E...
"Hello my name is Susan" (female voice in same Indian accent)
Your name is "Susan"? (laughing)
Why do you complain at me like this"?
CLICK
Which was disappointing becauae I had my headset on and was prepared to drag the caller along for as long as as I could by pretending to be interested.
It actually made sense that BG&E was marketing me, since they can offer me electrical service over my local co-op lines. So I called BG&E about the annoying calls. Guess what? Its a problem for them, too. The calls are scammers.
I didn't even think about that, since I like my co-op and wasn't tempted to change providers. They actually appreciated my calling them with details of the calls. They apologized for the spam calls and assured me they weren't causing them (and had their security team trying to find the scammers).
Huh! Sometimes it is worth calling about the "apparent" spammers. *I* felt good about calling them about it, and THEY seemed pleased to get some general day/date/time data about the calls.
The same thing happened a few months ago. I was getting calls from a local carpet-cleaning company. Except they weren't placing the calls. Spoof display...
So don't get mad at the people you THINK are calling you all day. Just let them know they are spoof-victims. They want to know about that because they care about their reputations.
But it WAS some weird calls...
So I picked up the phone. The person I spoke to couldn't get my name right at all:
Hello, are you Nark Via"?
No.
Is Nark Via at home this day?
No.
Who am I speaking to?
Who are you?
I must talk to Nark Via!
Please check your list and get my name right.
Are you [my name]?
Yes.
Why didn't you say so?
You didn't say my name
I said your name. Are you deaf?
I hear you fine. Can you speak English?
Drink poison and die!
CLICK
Later that day, same phone display name BG&E...
"Hello my name is Susan" (female voice in same Indian accent)
Your name is "Susan"? (laughing)
Why do you complain at me like this"?
CLICK
Which was disappointing becauae I had my headset on and was prepared to drag the caller along for as long as as I could by pretending to be interested.
It actually made sense that BG&E was marketing me, since they can offer me electrical service over my local co-op lines. So I called BG&E about the annoying calls. Guess what? Its a problem for them, too. The calls are scammers.
I didn't even think about that, since I like my co-op and wasn't tempted to change providers. They actually appreciated my calling them with details of the calls. They apologized for the spam calls and assured me they weren't causing them (and had their security team trying to find the scammers).
Huh! Sometimes it is worth calling about the "apparent" spammers. *I* felt good about calling them about it, and THEY seemed pleased to get some general day/date/time data about the calls.
The same thing happened a few months ago. I was getting calls from a local carpet-cleaning company. Except they weren't placing the calls. Spoof display...
So don't get mad at the people you THINK are calling you all day. Just let them know they are spoof-victims. They want to know about that because they care about their reputations.
But it WAS some weird calls...
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Political Days
Politics are wearing me out. Everyone wants to say the issues are all black&white with no nuances. Everything is more complicated than THAT! Any issue has a dozen sides, not just two... I watch a lot of political discussion on TV. Politicians won't even answer a "yes or no" question, just repeat some answer they have memorized that doesn't pin them down to anything.
It's like...
Moderator: What is your favorite color, Senator?
Senator: Plaid.
M: What is your favorite ice cream?
S: Chocolate/Strawberry/Vanilla.
M: Is there "climate change"?
S: It was cold this Winter.
M: What do you think about minorities?
S: Everyone is a minority somewhere.
You get the point. Getting an actual answer on anything is like pounding your head on a rock. So I understand why more and more voters are drawn to politicians who DO say definite things even when those things they say are stupid. And that goes on both sides.
But Trump has developed that to the maximum. On that basis alone, he should be removed from office. I mean, We The People don't deserve to have the ultimate in deception and ludicrousness inflicted upon us. Let's just say we BLEW the 2016 Presidential Election and do what is lawful to replace him with anyone at least competent as a President. And forget he ever happened. OK?
How bad is he? Vice President Mike Pence brought greetings to our European Allies, and the silence was deafening. Not a single representative from Europe even applauded politely. Pence tried a second time to get some applause in his mention of Trump. The results? Crickets...
Biden spoke and got applause...
OK, that's enough...
It's like...
Moderator: What is your favorite color, Senator?
Senator: Plaid.
M: What is your favorite ice cream?
S: Chocolate/Strawberry/Vanilla.
M: Is there "climate change"?
S: It was cold this Winter.
M: What do you think about minorities?
S: Everyone is a minority somewhere.
You get the point. Getting an actual answer on anything is like pounding your head on a rock. So I understand why more and more voters are drawn to politicians who DO say definite things even when those things they say are stupid. And that goes on both sides.
But Trump has developed that to the maximum. On that basis alone, he should be removed from office. I mean, We The People don't deserve to have the ultimate in deception and ludicrousness inflicted upon us. Let's just say we BLEW the 2016 Presidential Election and do what is lawful to replace him with anyone at least competent as a President. And forget he ever happened. OK?
How bad is he? Vice President Mike Pence brought greetings to our European Allies, and the silence was deafening. Not a single representative from Europe even applauded politely. Pence tried a second time to get some applause in his mention of Trump. The results? Crickets...
Biden spoke and got applause...
OK, that's enough...
Monday, February 11, 2019
The New Old Computer
I meant to post pictures of the new old Windows computer with the previous post, but I had over 100 various pictures to process (and I do a lot of resizing, cropping, and light/color adjustment*). Feeling lazy, I didn't. Now I have. Mainly, I took the pics to document the unboxing process in case of damage, but since I had them...
The box was perfectly sized. I mention that only because it seems to be a generic box.
It was very carefully enclosed in bubble wrap.
For an old Windows 95 machine, it was in very good shape.
The A drive (the minidisk) doesn't seem to work, but since I don't have any of those it doesn't matter right now. I could get it replaced if I needed to. It makes a lot of noise when booting up, and I don't remember if that is normal. But it gets quiet again afterwards.
I love the way old Windows towers label the basic ports. It was nice to see ports labeled for the mouse, the keyboard and the monitor. Unfortunately, I didn't have those old mouse and keyboards, but it did have ports for the newer mouses (mice?) and keyboards. An old monitor (I keep stuff) did work (one of those funny old multi-pin plugs).
So I plugged a mouse and keyboard in the USB A style ports right below the labeled ports. And rebooted it. Neither worked, but the monitor did, so at least I got messages about that.
I mentioned I keep stuff. Well, sadly, I had gone on a moderately serious decluttering binge a few months ago and threw out most of my "old never useful again" cables. I bet I tossed a few adapters that would have worked!
So I visited a computer store, a Best Buy, and a Walmart. None of them had the adapters OR any mouse or keyboard with those old PS/2 input cables**.
I went to Amazon. Bless Amazon, they had adaptors. Anxious to play the old Civ2 game, I ordered a pack of 2 adapters AND a dedicated old PS/2 mouse (just to be sure). I could have ordered a PS/2 keyboard, but after I dug around in the computer room closet I found an old one. It was large, it was complicated by dozens of specialized buttons, it was dirty, the letters on the keys are faded.
But it worked...
So the adapters and the PS/2 mouse arrived in a week (3rd party seller). The mouse works perfectly. I cleaned the old keyboard ***. I loaded the game and started at the easiest level (its been a while). After about 16 hours, I am WAY ahead (and only about 1/2 way through). I guess I still remember the basics.
It is like being addicted to some uncommon game (like Stadium Checkers) and meeting a new friend who also loves the game and has it (I do).
Can you guess I love games?
* I don't mean like Photoshopping them, but Mac Preview allows some pretty good fast adjustments. I routinely crop all my pics first, then increase the "definition" to 90 of 100, then increase the lighting (brighten the pics) and lower the color (so Marley doesn't look Neon Orange, LOL). But it is still 1 picture at a time. I wish I could do the settings in groups.
** I don't want anyone to think I just know all the hardware stuff. I had to look up all the kinds of ports to figure out what I needed. Searching "computer port images" was very helpful.
*** I spend a lot of time outdoors so I sort of live around dirt. I learned the best way to clean a keyboard is 1) Unplug it. 2) Vacuum it with a brush nozzle. 3) Turn it upside down and tap the back gently several times. 4) Then spray a glass cleaner on a soft cloth and WHILE holding the keyboard upside down, (so no cleaner gets into the keyboard innards) wipe the keys in all directions. Works for me.
The box was perfectly sized. I mention that only because it seems to be a generic box.
I love the way old Windows towers label the basic ports. It was nice to see ports labeled for the mouse, the keyboard and the monitor. Unfortunately, I didn't have those old mouse and keyboards, but it did have ports for the newer mouses (mice?) and keyboards. An old monitor (I keep stuff) did work (one of those funny old multi-pin plugs).
So I plugged a mouse and keyboard in the USB A style ports right below the labeled ports. And rebooted it. Neither worked, but the monitor did, so at least I got messages about that.
I mentioned I keep stuff. Well, sadly, I had gone on a moderately serious decluttering binge a few months ago and threw out most of my "old never useful again" cables. I bet I tossed a few adapters that would have worked!
So I visited a computer store, a Best Buy, and a Walmart. None of them had the adapters OR any mouse or keyboard with those old PS/2 input cables**.
I went to Amazon. Bless Amazon, they had adaptors. Anxious to play the old Civ2 game, I ordered a pack of 2 adapters AND a dedicated old PS/2 mouse (just to be sure). I could have ordered a PS/2 keyboard, but after I dug around in the computer room closet I found an old one. It was large, it was complicated by dozens of specialized buttons, it was dirty, the letters on the keys are faded.
But it worked...
So the adapters and the PS/2 mouse arrived in a week (3rd party seller). The mouse works perfectly. I cleaned the old keyboard ***. I loaded the game and started at the easiest level (its been a while). After about 16 hours, I am WAY ahead (and only about 1/2 way through). I guess I still remember the basics.
It is like being addicted to some uncommon game (like Stadium Checkers) and meeting a new friend who also loves the game and has it (I do).
Can you guess I love games?
* I don't mean like Photoshopping them, but Mac Preview allows some pretty good fast adjustments. I routinely crop all my pics first, then increase the "definition" to 90 of 100, then increase the lighting (brighten the pics) and lower the color (so Marley doesn't look Neon Orange, LOL). But it is still 1 picture at a time. I wish I could do the settings in groups.
** I don't want anyone to think I just know all the hardware stuff. I had to look up all the kinds of ports to figure out what I needed. Searching "computer port images" was very helpful.
*** I spend a lot of time outdoors so I sort of live around dirt. I learned the best way to clean a keyboard is 1) Unplug it. 2) Vacuum it with a brush nozzle. 3) Turn it upside down and tap the back gently several times. 4) Then spray a glass cleaner on a soft cloth and WHILE holding the keyboard upside down, (so no cleaner gets into the keyboard innards) wipe the keys in all directions. Works for me.
Thursday, February 7, 2019
Old Computer Game, Replayable
This is long, and the last parts are more important that the early parts...
In 1998, bored with discussion boards and playing old established games like Monopoly and chess and scrabble and backgammon, and missing complex strategic games by Avalon Hill like Gettysburg and WWI Origins, I went searching for a good computer game to play. I finally read about a game called Civilization 2. There was a Civilization game where you build cities with buildings and military, etc, but the sequel was more highly rated and complicated. There were competing civilizations, more buildings, economics, and military units and even spaceships to land on Alpha Centuri toward the end. Players raved about it. So I gave it a try.
I bought it on a Friday. I played it 36 hours by Sunday night. I was addicted. I was near the top of my career then, and while there were challenges and problems to solve every day, I was bored. The only step up was into management.
Quite frankly, I don't like having to tell other people what to do (Forgive me, but self-starters like me don't quite understand why anyone needs to be told what to do). Management had long before stopped bothering me with instructions and I thought we good worker types needed fewer managers. So I didn't want to go into management.
It's like the old observation: Those who can't DO, teach. Those who can't TEACH, administrate. Those who can't Adnimistrate, join the School Board.
The money would have been nice, but I had more than I needed. So I enjoyed my little kingdom getting "outstanding" ratings each year and wasn't bothered by anyone. All that Management cared about was that everything I did worked.
But I digress...
Civilization 2 was addictive. It was like chess on steroids. Many more possibilities and the game was far more varied. You never saw the whole board unless you got a spaceship near the end of tye game (and most games did not get to spaceships).
You start on a randomly-constructed world of land and sea. You can choose 2-6 other AI competitors (and they are very good). You choose to face "no barbarian tribes" to "Raging Hordes". You can play at 5 levels of difficulty. The game starts and all you see is a Settler and 10 squares of about 10,000.
You build a city at first in a square you choose. There are valuable land squares scattered around, and the terrain is grass, plains, forest, hills, jungle, etc. Then you choose how to construct a civilization with more cities, technical advancement, military units, useful buildings, etc according to your choice.
Eventually, you come in contact with other civilizations. You can deal with them with diplomacy, war, trade, etc. The other civilizations have their own personalities. Some are militaristic, some peaceful, some traders, some diplomatic, etc.
There are also Wonders Of The World to be constructed (more than the traditional 7). Some provide storage for food in all cities, some increase military strength, some increase technology discovery. It can get maddeningly complicated.
The goal is to either get to Alpha Centuri first or destroy the other civs or at least be more advanced of all the others at the end. The game goes from 4000 BC to around 2100 AD (I forget). But like I said, It is a long complicated game.
A typical game view:
It was just what I wanted.
And then the awful day came! As Windows computers advanced, Civ 2 was no longer playable (bitspeed complications). I tried Civ3 and hated it (it introduced "spheres of influence" where adjacent civs could just absorb your city into their civ, and I hated the loss of control. And my old Windows computer literally fell apart and stopped working. In hindsight, I should have just brought it to the local Windows repair shop. Sometimes, the blinding obvious escapes one...
Several years ago, I tried playing Civ V (said to be similar to Civ 2 but with better graphics). All I found were choices that were SO complicated they were nearly random, and enemy units that could be reduced be almost never eliminated.
I tried hard to "get" the game, but I never did. And my own units FOUGHT me in the direction they would move (apparently, the AI was over-ruling my decisions). I gave up on Civ 3.
So I searched for ways to play Civ 2 on newer Windows and Mac computers. There were a lot of suggestions.
One was to partition a Windows drive to act like that part was an old Windows 98. I couldn't make that work (and I am good at following computer instructions). Another was "How to play abandonware games". I couldn't make that work either. A few other suggestions on Civ 2 discussion sites were no more successful (most comments were "that doesn't work" so I was not alone in my lack of success).
2 weeks ago, I went to Civ 2 discussuon site and someone said her Dad loved the game so much she bought an old Windows workbook for him to play it on and he was thrilled. DUH! Why didn't I think of that before?
So I went to the local PC repair shop and asked about an old Windows PC and showed him the requirements on the game box. His look was of disgust... But he said he might be able to find the parts in a week, but had I checked eBay?
I checked eBay. Bought one (no returns allowed). It arrived. Took some work to find old cables, but I eventually had everything I needed. Turned it on. It rattled for a few minutes, and told me there was no keyboard. Of course there was. It just was recognizing it.
I have a junk closet. Stuff I want to keep for possible future use. I found an old Windows keyboard WAY back in there. Ugly thing with command buttons all over it. Close to this but worse (a series of dedicated buttons on a curve over the top).
I had an old mouse but needed a USN to round port connector and got one from Amazon in 2 days. I connected both and turned the computer on again. It got me to
It worked! I loaded the old Civ2 dick into the drive and continued. It recognized the disk. I went to "escape" to boot to install, and that worked. The game loaded!
I played it briefly to make sure it worked and shut everything down...
Now, if you will forgive me, I have a game to play. You might not see me again for a while...
In 1998, bored with discussion boards and playing old established games like Monopoly and chess and scrabble and backgammon, and missing complex strategic games by Avalon Hill like Gettysburg and WWI Origins, I went searching for a good computer game to play. I finally read about a game called Civilization 2. There was a Civilization game where you build cities with buildings and military, etc, but the sequel was more highly rated and complicated. There were competing civilizations, more buildings, economics, and military units and even spaceships to land on Alpha Centuri toward the end. Players raved about it. So I gave it a try.
I bought it on a Friday. I played it 36 hours by Sunday night. I was addicted. I was near the top of my career then, and while there were challenges and problems to solve every day, I was bored. The only step up was into management.
Quite frankly, I don't like having to tell other people what to do (Forgive me, but self-starters like me don't quite understand why anyone needs to be told what to do). Management had long before stopped bothering me with instructions and I thought we good worker types needed fewer managers. So I didn't want to go into management.
It's like the old observation: Those who can't DO, teach. Those who can't TEACH, administrate. Those who can't Adnimistrate, join the School Board.
The money would have been nice, but I had more than I needed. So I enjoyed my little kingdom getting "outstanding" ratings each year and wasn't bothered by anyone. All that Management cared about was that everything I did worked.
But I digress...
Civilization 2 was addictive. It was like chess on steroids. Many more possibilities and the game was far more varied. You never saw the whole board unless you got a spaceship near the end of tye game (and most games did not get to spaceships).
You start on a randomly-constructed world of land and sea. You can choose 2-6 other AI competitors (and they are very good). You choose to face "no barbarian tribes" to "Raging Hordes". You can play at 5 levels of difficulty. The game starts and all you see is a Settler and 10 squares of about 10,000.
You build a city at first in a square you choose. There are valuable land squares scattered around, and the terrain is grass, plains, forest, hills, jungle, etc. Then you choose how to construct a civilization with more cities, technical advancement, military units, useful buildings, etc according to your choice.
Eventually, you come in contact with other civilizations. You can deal with them with diplomacy, war, trade, etc. The other civilizations have their own personalities. Some are militaristic, some peaceful, some traders, some diplomatic, etc.
There are also Wonders Of The World to be constructed (more than the traditional 7). Some provide storage for food in all cities, some increase military strength, some increase technology discovery. It can get maddeningly complicated.
The goal is to either get to Alpha Centuri first or destroy the other civs or at least be more advanced of all the others at the end. The game goes from 4000 BC to around 2100 AD (I forget). But like I said, It is a long complicated game.
A typical game view:
It was just what I wanted.
And then the awful day came! As Windows computers advanced, Civ 2 was no longer playable (bitspeed complications). I tried Civ3 and hated it (it introduced "spheres of influence" where adjacent civs could just absorb your city into their civ, and I hated the loss of control. And my old Windows computer literally fell apart and stopped working. In hindsight, I should have just brought it to the local Windows repair shop. Sometimes, the blinding obvious escapes one...
Several years ago, I tried playing Civ V (said to be similar to Civ 2 but with better graphics). All I found were choices that were SO complicated they were nearly random, and enemy units that could be reduced be almost never eliminated.
I tried hard to "get" the game, but I never did. And my own units FOUGHT me in the direction they would move (apparently, the AI was over-ruling my decisions). I gave up on Civ 3.
So I searched for ways to play Civ 2 on newer Windows and Mac computers. There were a lot of suggestions.
One was to partition a Windows drive to act like that part was an old Windows 98. I couldn't make that work (and I am good at following computer instructions). Another was "How to play abandonware games". I couldn't make that work either. A few other suggestions on Civ 2 discussion sites were no more successful (most comments were "that doesn't work" so I was not alone in my lack of success).
2 weeks ago, I went to Civ 2 discussuon site and someone said her Dad loved the game so much she bought an old Windows workbook for him to play it on and he was thrilled. DUH! Why didn't I think of that before?
So I went to the local PC repair shop and asked about an old Windows PC and showed him the requirements on the game box. His look was of disgust... But he said he might be able to find the parts in a week, but had I checked eBay?
I checked eBay. Bought one (no returns allowed). It arrived. Took some work to find old cables, but I eventually had everything I needed. Turned it on. It rattled for a few minutes, and told me there was no keyboard. Of course there was. It just was recognizing it.
I have a junk closet. Stuff I want to keep for possible future use. I found an old Windows keyboard WAY back in there. Ugly thing with command buttons all over it. Close to this but worse (a series of dedicated buttons on a curve over the top).
I had an old mouse but needed a USN to round port connector and got one from Amazon in 2 days. I connected both and turned the computer on again. It got me to
It worked! I loaded the old Civ2 dick into the drive and continued. It recognized the disk. I went to "escape" to boot to install, and that worked. The game loaded!
I played it briefly to make sure it worked and shut everything down...
Now, if you will forgive me, I have a game to play. You might not see me again for a while...
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Google Earth - Previous Residences
Do you ever use Google Earth to look at past places you've lived? I do. Because I wonder how things have changed. Even when I was young, I recall the houses and yards. Dad used to do a lot of work in the yard and I did in my own places later.
So I decided to actually look at each today and show the changes. Some are minor, some are drastic. I won't give details, who knows what SOME company might find useful, LOL!
1. It was a 2 story old house when I was there. It has been utterly replaced. The 20'x30' sandbox Dad built is gone. The grape arbors are gone. The outbuilding party building is gone. The field of wild blackberries (where we kids stuffed ourselves in Summer) is gone. The slope where we sledded most Winter days is now full of trees.
I drove past the old place in the early 80s on business in Boston. I stopped and looked. It was the same place. I didn't go knock on the door. I wish I had. The owners might have been thrilled. I really regret that.
The next place I lived was in Petersburg. Quite a surprise moving from Massachusetts to Virginia in the late 50s. We had to study Virginia History (mostly how evil the North was to the South). We were the only kids in in school from "The North" and were not liked.
The house is the same. Dad built a massive roof over the sunken patio using tranluscent plastic. I see it is shingled now. The part covered with trees in the right back used to be a putting green Dad set up (of golf Course quality). Mom and Dad both loved golfing, so they practiced there often (drive for show, putt for dough). There used to be a fence he built around the back yard and I see it has been replaced with shrubs. Apparently the lawn has become Zoysia grass. Awful stuff; green in Winter but brown in Summer. The trees in center left cover what was the gravel driveway Dad and I build to Roman quality roads. As a mechanical engineer, he never did things halfway (much to my dismay as a teen converted to serf labor). There were gardens and borders of strawberries when we left. Those are all gone now.
We moved to MD after that. The house looks about the same. My room (my first ever own room) is the left back window. The yard is ruined though. Dad and I and my brother spent a Summer building an below ground swimming pool from a massive kit when I was 15. Worst Summer of my life!
Dad had some company dump 3 dumptruck loads of dirt in the back and then dig a pit to his specifications. And he wasn't wasting any dirt. He knew the dug-out dirt would match the slope he needed around the outside. Engineers LOL...
I spent the Summer digging out soil to precise depths and tamping it down flat with a damned heavy flat weight. My brother was younger, so not expected to do much except when Dad was there to guide him. But I worked like a mule all Summer in the heat.
When the hole was to specifications, we had to install 4' sections of metal panels and drill holes in them for bolts. Drilling through metal with a handheld drill is not easy. Bits broke constantly. But entually we had the steel panels assembled. Then we had to backfill around the outsides. Guess who did most of THAT?
Finally, we installed this HUGE plastic liner. It was AWFUL. It had to be slid along some plastic ribs inch by inch. And we had to do it from above because you couldn't walk on the sand layer the liner would rest on.
Dad designed and built a diving board and a pool filter and skimmer. Too tricky for me, really. Then came the day when a water tanker arrived to fill the pool. Dad was fanatic about angling the input pipes so as to not put pressure on the bottom (and well he should).
When it was filled, we had to wait 4 days for the water to get to ambient temperature. We dove in, and I thought I would freeze to death. I seldom went swimming in it and went off to college 3 years later only daring it in the heat of August.
And after Mom and Dad moved to NH, these people who bought the house filled the pool with dirt to bury it. It was to left of the pin...
And not only that, they completely ersaded the garden and the landscaping. The lower right of the house had a wonderful broad patch of boxwoods and butterfly bushes I had installed to get my Boy Scout Landscaping Badge. If they wanted a yard like a pool table top, why didn't they just buy one?
After several apartments after college, I rented a house with a friend. It was treeless except for an old apple tree. I was experimentig with raised garden boxes. so I built a star-shaped one in the lower left, an octagonal one on the opposite side of the sidewalk, planted marigolds along the sidewalk sides, removed the old apple tree (with the owners approval) and grew veggies there.
You can see the outline of the left star. Just a few years ago, you could see the outline of the right octagon. The trees have exploded into growth, hiding the old veggie garden.
So here I am in my Forever House. There are fewer trees and greenery than this pictures shows. A lot of that is wild underbrush and blackberries I cut down last fall. The stuff at the bottom is a screened garden and 2 toolsheds. The lower left is all cleared...
The good thing about this place is that if I ever leave it, I probably won't be capable of looking back at it...
So I decided to actually look at each today and show the changes. Some are minor, some are drastic. I won't give details, who knows what SOME company might find useful, LOL!
1. It was a 2 story old house when I was there. It has been utterly replaced. The 20'x30' sandbox Dad built is gone. The grape arbors are gone. The outbuilding party building is gone. The field of wild blackberries (where we kids stuffed ourselves in Summer) is gone. The slope where we sledded most Winter days is now full of trees.
The next place I lived was in Petersburg. Quite a surprise moving from Massachusetts to Virginia in the late 50s. We had to study Virginia History (mostly how evil the North was to the South). We were the only kids in in school from "The North" and were not liked.
The house is the same. Dad built a massive roof over the sunken patio using tranluscent plastic. I see it is shingled now. The part covered with trees in the right back used to be a putting green Dad set up (of golf Course quality). Mom and Dad both loved golfing, so they practiced there often (drive for show, putt for dough). There used to be a fence he built around the back yard and I see it has been replaced with shrubs. Apparently the lawn has become Zoysia grass. Awful stuff; green in Winter but brown in Summer. The trees in center left cover what was the gravel driveway Dad and I build to Roman quality roads. As a mechanical engineer, he never did things halfway (much to my dismay as a teen converted to serf labor). There were gardens and borders of strawberries when we left. Those are all gone now.
Dad had some company dump 3 dumptruck loads of dirt in the back and then dig a pit to his specifications. And he wasn't wasting any dirt. He knew the dug-out dirt would match the slope he needed around the outside. Engineers LOL...
I spent the Summer digging out soil to precise depths and tamping it down flat with a damned heavy flat weight. My brother was younger, so not expected to do much except when Dad was there to guide him. But I worked like a mule all Summer in the heat.
When the hole was to specifications, we had to install 4' sections of metal panels and drill holes in them for bolts. Drilling through metal with a handheld drill is not easy. Bits broke constantly. But entually we had the steel panels assembled. Then we had to backfill around the outsides. Guess who did most of THAT?
Finally, we installed this HUGE plastic liner. It was AWFUL. It had to be slid along some plastic ribs inch by inch. And we had to do it from above because you couldn't walk on the sand layer the liner would rest on.
Dad designed and built a diving board and a pool filter and skimmer. Too tricky for me, really. Then came the day when a water tanker arrived to fill the pool. Dad was fanatic about angling the input pipes so as to not put pressure on the bottom (and well he should).
When it was filled, we had to wait 4 days for the water to get to ambient temperature. We dove in, and I thought I would freeze to death. I seldom went swimming in it and went off to college 3 years later only daring it in the heat of August.
And after Mom and Dad moved to NH, these people who bought the house filled the pool with dirt to bury it. It was to left of the pin...
After several apartments after college, I rented a house with a friend. It was treeless except for an old apple tree. I was experimentig with raised garden boxes. so I built a star-shaped one in the lower left, an octagonal one on the opposite side of the sidewalk, planted marigolds along the sidewalk sides, removed the old apple tree (with the owners approval) and grew veggies there.
You can see the outline of the left star. Just a few years ago, you could see the outline of the right octagon. The trees have exploded into growth, hiding the old veggie garden.
So here I am in my Forever House. There are fewer trees and greenery than this pictures shows. A lot of that is wild underbrush and blackberries I cut down last fall. The stuff at the bottom is a screened garden and 2 toolsheds. The lower left is all cleared...
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
TV Chairs
I have 2 smallish swivel/rocker easy chairs from back when Skeeter
was new here. They are worn out and I always disliked that the back is a
little too low to lean my head back. Looking for replacements has not
been successful. Swivel/rocker easy chairs are not easy to find with
higher backs in black. The recliner chair I bought didn't work because I
sit on the chair to eat dinner while watching TV and the recliner tilts
too far forward and I slide out.
So I got the idea that what I needed was a soft computer chair without the wheels installed. I sat in a bunch and decided on one I liked. The assembly was difficult. The holes for the bolts that held the back and arms and seat didn't match up perfectly, but with some force applied with bar clamps, I got everything together. I moved it into place in front of the TV. And hated it!
It wasn't as soft as I thought. You SINK into an easy chair, but you SIT in a computer chair. Not the same thing... Yeah, that's by design, but in the store, it seemed the computer chair was soft enough.
Naturally, I had waited too long to return it. So I put the old chair back in place. I suppose I could build a light wooden frame to screw into the back and velcro a pillow on it to raise the back 6" so I could rest my head back. I might see if there is a way I can stop the recliner from tilting too far forward (without stopping the reclining movement) because it really IS comfortable otherwise.
But I think I'll keep looking for a better one...
So I got the idea that what I needed was a soft computer chair without the wheels installed. I sat in a bunch and decided on one I liked. The assembly was difficult. The holes for the bolts that held the back and arms and seat didn't match up perfectly, but with some force applied with bar clamps, I got everything together. I moved it into place in front of the TV. And hated it!
It wasn't as soft as I thought. You SINK into an easy chair, but you SIT in a computer chair. Not the same thing... Yeah, that's by design, but in the store, it seemed the computer chair was soft enough.
Naturally, I had waited too long to return it. So I put the old chair back in place. I suppose I could build a light wooden frame to screw into the back and velcro a pillow on it to raise the back 6" so I could rest my head back. I might see if there is a way I can stop the recliner from tilting too far forward (without stopping the reclining movement) because it really IS comfortable otherwise.
But I think I'll keep looking for a better one...
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Odd Weather
I might be a very interesting few days!
We have 4" of snow on the ground, it is above freezing, there is a forecast of a inch of heavy rain, and then tomorrow, the temperature is going to plummet from 45F to 10F with windchills near zeroF.
No one seems quite sure what will result from that. The snow might melt adding to water on the ground which will there freeze, or maybe the ground will stay warm enough to not-quite freeze.
I did some mild shopping today ahead of this uncertainity. Nothing serious, just some fruits and veggies I might miss if the roads turned icy.
But I was also reminded of why I seldom shop on weekend days and especially ahead of storms. People go nuts. And they get stupid. All *I* wanted was the usual fruits and veggies ( have month's worth of meat in the freezer).
I'm looking at the carts ahead of me. Lady, do you need TWO 12 packs of toilet prepare to get you through the next 2 days? Hey single guy, 6 frozen pizzas? Etc.
All I was trying to do was my regular fresh food shopping. Lettuce, celery, beets, beans, apples, tomatoes, etc...
And I had to stop to shop at the local pet place. Chewy was out of several regular items (Whole Earth Farm, so I wanted to replace them locally . I found them at Petco. But Petco has oddly expensive aquaium fish, and none on the one I wanted, so I went to Petsmart across the street from them.
I walked into Petsmart and was subjected to an utter cacophony of screaming babies, barking dogs and upset parrots screaming words. It was also doggie adoption day (and hurray for any adopted doggies) but it was a madhouse! And they didn't have the fish I wanted either.
It's a serpa tetra with a high top black fin. I found a few a month ago for $1.39 each and suddenly they are $4.39. The price doesn't really matter to me, but I don't like big price changes like that. I'll wait.
And there was something else that annoyed me. If it was just the pet store asking for donations I might help. But EVERY SINGLE PLACE I GO is soliciting donations for some cause or another on the card checkout these days. "Do you want to support X"? You can't escape it.
But what concerns me is that they never say exactly how you are supporting them? They never mention a particular organization.
Do I want to support Vets or homeless people or pet shelters? Sure. But not without knowing who they are. That's why I donate at home to several specific organizations I know to have small administrative costs and most of my money actually goes to the specific causes.
But I am safe at home with the cats' accustomed foods, my fruits and veggies, etc.
I found what I needed and got out as fast as possible. I seldom shop on weekend days for that reason. But sometimes I forget the day. Retirement will do that to you.
We have 4" of snow on the ground, it is above freezing, there is a forecast of a inch of heavy rain, and then tomorrow, the temperature is going to plummet from 45F to 10F with windchills near zeroF.
No one seems quite sure what will result from that. The snow might melt adding to water on the ground which will there freeze, or maybe the ground will stay warm enough to not-quite freeze.
I did some mild shopping today ahead of this uncertainity. Nothing serious, just some fruits and veggies I might miss if the roads turned icy.
But I was also reminded of why I seldom shop on weekend days and especially ahead of storms. People go nuts. And they get stupid. All *I* wanted was the usual fruits and veggies ( have month's worth of meat in the freezer).
I'm looking at the carts ahead of me. Lady, do you need TWO 12 packs of toilet prepare to get you through the next 2 days? Hey single guy, 6 frozen pizzas? Etc.
All I was trying to do was my regular fresh food shopping. Lettuce, celery, beets, beans, apples, tomatoes, etc...
And I had to stop to shop at the local pet place. Chewy was out of several regular items (Whole Earth Farm, so I wanted to replace them locally . I found them at Petco. But Petco has oddly expensive aquaium fish, and none on the one I wanted, so I went to Petsmart across the street from them.
I walked into Petsmart and was subjected to an utter cacophony of screaming babies, barking dogs and upset parrots screaming words. It was also doggie adoption day (and hurray for any adopted doggies) but it was a madhouse! And they didn't have the fish I wanted either.
It's a serpa tetra with a high top black fin. I found a few a month ago for $1.39 each and suddenly they are $4.39. The price doesn't really matter to me, but I don't like big price changes like that. I'll wait.
And there was something else that annoyed me. If it was just the pet store asking for donations I might help. But EVERY SINGLE PLACE I GO is soliciting donations for some cause or another on the card checkout these days. "Do you want to support X"? You can't escape it.
But what concerns me is that they never say exactly how you are supporting them? They never mention a particular organization.
Do I want to support Vets or homeless people or pet shelters? Sure. But not without knowing who they are. That's why I donate at home to several specific organizations I know to have small administrative costs and most of my money actually goes to the specific causes.
But I am safe at home with the cats' accustomed foods, my fruits and veggies, etc.
I found what I needed and got out as fast as possible. I seldom shop on weekend days for that reason. But sometimes I forget the day. Retirement will do that to you.
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Bad Knee
I'm not a person who sits around much except while eating lunch and reading the newspaper or at dinner. So movement is not usually a problem.
We had 8" of snow recently and I noticed no birds at the feeder. Bad timing to run out of black oil sunflower seed in the feeder. But this is exactly when my bird polulation needs a little help, so I went to pull on my boots to go outside...
And my right knee said "NO". Really, I sat down to pull on a boot and my right knee suddenly went painful. No hint before. I managed to lift it into the boot top and put on the other. Ans limped to the stairs. The stairs were and adventure. One step down with the left foot and follow with the right.
I limped across the basement to the metal can I keep the 40 lbs of black oil sunflower seeds in and filled the bucket marked to how much the birdfeeder will hold.
I was dreading carrying the stepladder to the feeder. It hurt to walk to the basement door. I undid the security bar, and turned the doorlock...
And the knee was suddenly just fine again! I carried the seed bucket out, carried the ladder to the feeder, and opened it. I had a twinge climbing the ladder but just for a moment. Filled the feeder, but away the ladder, brought the bucket inside, and hours later, no problems.
I wonder what causes that to happen? It would make sense if the knee kept hurting or that if never did. But what would make such a temporary problem?
Getting old is weird...
We had 8" of snow recently and I noticed no birds at the feeder. Bad timing to run out of black oil sunflower seed in the feeder. But this is exactly when my bird polulation needs a little help, so I went to pull on my boots to go outside...
And my right knee said "NO". Really, I sat down to pull on a boot and my right knee suddenly went painful. No hint before. I managed to lift it into the boot top and put on the other. Ans limped to the stairs. The stairs were and adventure. One step down with the left foot and follow with the right.
I limped across the basement to the metal can I keep the 40 lbs of black oil sunflower seeds in and filled the bucket marked to how much the birdfeeder will hold.
I was dreading carrying the stepladder to the feeder. It hurt to walk to the basement door. I undid the security bar, and turned the doorlock...
And the knee was suddenly just fine again! I carried the seed bucket out, carried the ladder to the feeder, and opened it. I had a twinge climbing the ladder but just for a moment. Filled the feeder, but away the ladder, brought the bucket inside, and hours later, no problems.
I wonder what causes that to happen? It would make sense if the knee kept hurting or that if never did. But what would make such a temporary problem?
Getting old is weird...
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Mixed Seedling Soil
Every year, I mix peat moss I sift through a box I built, vermiculite, perlite, and sifted compost into a large barrel. I love feeling the soil-less soil. And it is good that I'm ready for the next year.
Well, you know what potting soil looks like. The difference is that mine costs about $20 for the whole barrel and buying that much by the bag would cost about $100+. And I really know what is in mine.
Well, you know what potting soil looks like. The difference is that mine costs about $20 for the whole barrel and buying that much by the bag would cost about $100+. And I really know what is in mine.
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Landscaping, Part 3
So I got to the point where I wanted to put edging around the trees and shrubs in the front yard. The point was to prevent lawn grass from ...
