22 December 2011

I'm sitting here nursing the beginnings of a cold. What nice timing . . .

On Monday I had an MRI done on my injured shoulder. I'll go tomorrow morning and find out the results. At the moment, my neck is hurting me way more than my shoulder. It's hell getting old!

I have NOT done my Christmas shopping. Thank goodness there's not that much to do. Our families are not into the out-of-control consumerism that seems to be the key inGREEDient of the holiday season. I look forward to December 21st each year more than I look forward to the 25th because I know that after that, the days are now getting longer . . . Yea!!!

Bill and I went to a Lyle Lovett concert at Bass Hall on Tuesday night. That was our gift to each other (and our annual date!). We had a great time, but it made for a late night for us homebodies.

No specific plans for the day . . .I feel kinda guilty sending Bigfoot off to work while I stay home on my break.

Obviously, not much going on here . . .

Sunday, December 11

Littlefoot here!

I'm here putting off grading papers and doing next week's lesson plans. But it's inevitable that some time today that's what I'll be up to. . . .

Our cats are maturing and reproducing and still mostly wild. We gradually tame one at a time and become semi-attached to him/her. Then that particular cat disappears. We've come to believe that we're signing the death warrant of whatever cat is next in line to be tamed. So far the order of taming and disappearance is as follows: Geddy, Tillie, Shybo, and Remmie. Next in line for disappearance is either Michelle (a solid black cat named after our First Lady) or Sox..

But ya gotta feed 'em, right? Ya can't just let 'em freeze and die. And now Bigfoot has a propane heater out in the shack that he turns on for them at night so they don't freeze (He's the 'cat man.' They're his children). We figure they're out there gestating a whole new generation. Yippee!!

I injured my shoulder on the Sunday that we were returning from the cabin during our last trip down at Thanksgiving. We were in Alpine and Bill was in Subway getting us some sandwiches. I was sitting in the passenger's seat and attempted to lift a very heavy book bag (damn heavy chemistry textbook, etc) over my shoulder between the seats into the back seat. About half-way through that manuever a loud POP! came from my shoulder---and that was that . . .

I went to the doctor the next day and we decided to take a 'wait and see' approach. I've been wearing a sling for two weeks to school (hoping things would get better). Some days it seems better--other days not. Certain motions are fine, others painful. Tomorrow afternoon I will visit the orthopedic specialist and go from there.

It's been a real pain in the ass because it's my left shoulder and I'm left-handed.

We miss being at the cabin. It sucks!

Later . . . .I've been trying to post this blog all day and Blogger won't let me. Sheesh!

Got my lesson plans done . . .Yea! As for grading papers--why do today what I can put off for another day? It's not like my students really care about their grades (until the last week of the grading period, of course--Then it's panic time).

whittlin'...drillin'...cuttin'...sittin'...etc

I have this nice comfy leather arm chair I picked up at a Salvation Army used furniture shop a few years ago. And what with all the sittin' around I've been doing the last couple of years, with no job and such, it's always seemed a tad too low for my 6'5" frame. It's nice and wide for my "wide load" girthitude....but I always have to put a thick pillow in it or I feel like I'm squatting on my haunches...and my tender little knee-bones don't like that too much. Hard to get up easily from sitting on the ground.

So today, after putting it off for weeks...I finally, instead of watching the Cowboys (and they were winning at halftime my Dad called to tell me)....I made some old fart highchair blocks for the bottom of my chair.

Using some 4"x6" Wolmanized timbers that were given to us by http://benntexas.blogspot.com/, a blogger we check daily who lives south of DFW, I fashioned some elevator blocks.

The round wooden peg feet from the bottom of the chair were a tad bigger than my biggest 1-1/2" paddle bit so instead of driving the 12 mile round trip to the nearest place to buy one (Ace Hdw)...I simply whittled the pegs to be a little skinnier and wollared out the holes with the paddle bit. The pegs were white oak and took some doing, and by the last peg shaving, my knife was getting a bit dullish, but I got-'r done. (pics are sideways..but you get the idea)

A little brown spray paint to make the wife happy with the final appearance and VIOLA...'tis done and is a thang of beauty.!...and the chair is nice and tall..!!

Just tapped them onto the shrunked pegs with a 2# sledge and it's done.
Now, I have't told y'all this, but I finally landed a JOB!!...and won't be able to sit around in this chair all day like I have been....damnit. Gotta git up and and out early....driving 50 miles each way through traffic (yeehaa..not) to the jobsite in Irving...not too far from the old (now gone) Cowboy Stadium.

I'm the superintendant over a project to take 168 old apartment units built in 1964, and give them a complete make-over. Lotta asbestos abatement to be done first....stripping interiors down to the bare studs, moving a few interior walls, adding some scab-on bathrooms here and there (new slab), all new plbg,wiring, HVAC. Putting gable truss roofs onto the existing flat roofs, all new elevations, new windows, removing all sidewalks, adding area drains, new landscaping, and building a ground-up leasing office/club with pool. About a 12 month job.

I was a "senior project manager" for the last 10 years....and haven't been a "super" since 1997, but what the hell...it's a paycheck, and alot less stress than being a PM. I'm happy with it. I'll get some pics of the progress as it goes along. Not officially starting until mid-Dec for actual const work, it won't close with HUD until then.

I hope to nab some good dumpster items from this job, and will add to my collection of wonderful used const junk....(I love const junk.!!...always have) Gotta get the F250 diesel towed to the shop for a head gasket job (+/- $2000 job)....but cheaper than another truck...then I can haul some goodies home for safekeeping.

Here's an old cowhead I need to tie onto the front of the Towncar for the next Terlingua Trip....but it'll probably lure cops and I don't need that Gestapo hassle...so maybe not. Does look kinda like what a plane-flying, goat-herding, terrorist might drive...huh?

Here's a couple of pics of a project I did north of Dallas in McKinney, back in '05. An older folks retirement apt project...240 units I think, hell I can't recall. This was the back side. REAL Austin Limestone...that's what the owner/client wanted and he paid for it.

That is all......CHOW, babeee.!

graph of truth...and post-Kiln garden harvest

Where are YOU on this chart...??

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

AND (update here)....here's what I gleaned from the garden in the cold drizzle tonite...after the nuclear Fuckusheema summertime we had here in TX.

All peppers here...the maters "tried" a bit with some yellow blossoms....but no fruit since a few in late spring....One watermellon the size of a canteloupe that I have not plucked yet.

(cell phone added for scale, lest anyone think these are huge peppers)

Supposed to be 40 degrees in the AM here.

Pepper tacos?....Pepper gumbo?....Pepper sandwiches?....pepper pancakes anyone..???

Good Cartoon here...but all too true these days.

My daughter found this cartoon and sent it to me. It represents today's life as a teacher in the public school system.

Parents are nowadays pretty lousy as a rule and alot of kids have no clue as to what discipline is.

And just like our fearless leader (Barry Soetoro - "OBummer")..it's ALWAYS someone elses fault..!

Amerika's Future...!!

Adios MO-FO's..!!

Packard Shack....nearly complete! (UPDATE)

Well...with the wonderful aid of modern machinations (Littlefoot's mom...guess that would make her my mom-in-law?) and a borrowed JD diesel tractor with front end loader...we got the brick floor nearly completed.

Concrete would have cost nearly $500 just for a half truck of "mud"..not to mention forms, rebar, labor to pour and finish...when I have all these bricks FREE.!!

Nephew Joe did the tractor work and brick loading on Sat/Sunday. Then Monday I got "Jackie" out to handle finishing up the brick placment.


Let's see...32 cubes of brick...each cube has a tad under 500 bricks...so what's that 16K bricks?
These were left over from an apt const job I was managing back in 1995. They had planned to install a long, high-dollar brick privacy fontage screen wall, and these bricks are special order to match the original phase one bricks (we were adding 120 units for phase II project to match in looks/etc), I ordered the bricks early in the job, due to a long lead time. By the time we were framed up and started brick work, the development dept decided "no fence"...we could not get credit for the over order of bricks...and we did not have any storage area for saving the extra materials. (Big REIT public-held company that wasted $$ like no tomorrow that I worked for). We had to pay for them to complete the purchase order...so I had these last 2 truckloads shipped out to my 3 acres west of DFW.. instead of telling the brick supplier to "keep 'em".
These are "wood mold" bricks, and somewhat irregular in shape. Not the standard wire-cut neat longer bricks we see mostly nowdays. Made via the old method when they used wooden carved molds. No round holes in these bricks, just square tapered holes on bottom side called "frogging" for some reason...at least the brick salesman explained it to me like that.



Joe loaded the bucket as full as he could, then drove to the Pack/Shack and dumped them. I started a few bricks Sunday afternoon...

Smooth out the dirt with a long metal "screed" and eyeball leveling, and little trowel fine tuning...and start laying bricks. Shoulda wet it down to help setttle in the dirt first...but hose not long enough and I ain't haulin water in a barrel.

Jackie showing progress made.

Old fridg is non working...just used for storage cabinet-to-be.

I saw this one today on Zerohedge.com....no words needed if you live in the US and have your eyes open.

That's it for now..

Adios

B'ft.

How to make a fat boy sweat....or "I'm HONGREE"

Nuttin' much to report today...got up and after my morning chores of feeding the cat herd, feeding the pug, and then walking the pug, watering the garden...I decided to actually "fix" me some breakfast.

4 eggs, scrambled with peppers, fresh from the garden (it's actually producing again), grated (pre-) sharp cheese, and hot sauce....with a couple of sliced Walmart 89 cent/lb Roma (Mexican grown) 'maters drizzled wit some buttermilk dressin'.....and I'm in bid'ness.!! Oh, can't forget a big glass of Tomato juice.

The wife (the one that started this blog)....has to get up at 5:30AM everyday...so I get up with her...and get my lazy day started early. Kinda nice to get out walking the dog, puffin' on my pipe before sun-up.

Caren is working hard and putting in some long hours teaching these days. She is seeing first hand the wonderful Fed CorpGov program for "no kiddos left behind"..and how it's like an unspoken policy in the public high schools to NOT flunk anyone...just move them to the "special program" area....and each kid you move into the "needs help" area...the teacher has to fill out a 1/4" thick stack of forms on EACH kid and turn into the admin. She has 3-4 slow kids in each class.

She has a coach/part time teacher across the hall....that miraculously has NO "problem kids" that are failing..(he doesn't want to deal with the paperwork...so everyone in his classes are "passing" fine.) And no one questions him..???

The TX public schools now are sooo wrapped up in getting and maintaining their "Exemplary" status via their TAKS test and drop out rates...that they push through ALL kids...and some schools even have special schools for "slow" kids that are failing...and these small sideline Special schools let kids zip through a semester of a subject class in a 2-3 weeks, by having them do "modules" on the computer at school...no homework, minimal tests. Funny how a kid that was about to flunk out, gets into the special school and graduates EARLY..!!

And I know one kid that went through this "Special high school" that told me his teacher would fill out his test answers for him, if he was having ANY trouble with a test.....I couldn't believe it.!! He graduated from high school and the kid can barely do simple math in his head...and not very well on paper. America's future...thanks to 30 - 40 years of help from the FEDs.

(Damn....haw'd I get started on that rant???)

okay done.....adios all.

B'feet