Aye...Cast Off The Bow And Stern Lines...Rudder To Starboard...
We're excited to be heading back home this morning to the Family Farm in lower Alabama again after a couple of months of business related delays beginning in August.
I hate not being able to get down there more often than every four to six months these days, but since moving nearly eight hours away to the Georgia Coast in 2003 and then here to Knoxtown in 2008, we just can't seem to cover the distance more frequently for an infinite variety of reasons.
So any way, we have about ten thousand pounds of stuff stacked up on the carport and beside the kitchen door ready to be loaded later this morning and I hope to be able to lay my head down and catch a few hours sleep in the mean time but my mind has been racing trying to get everything together so if some business call comes I have the stuff to take care of providing answers without delay.
The Turbo Pup's lockers and Sea Chests are all packed up and she's ready to get out of the car on the other end of the journey and be able to swim in the pool and run around the 5 acre lake chasing whatever pops up in the grass in front of her during her mad rambling adventures.
Of course we have to keep a close eye on her because we have Bobcats and Coyotes and even some Black Bears and the Florida Panther to deal with and her little 11 pound frame isn't a match for those adversaries in spite of her spirit.
I have fishing poles and tackle to load in the car and a half dozen guns and some inventoried boxes of ammunition waiting for me on the other end of the journey and of course I'm dragging my camera and my old HP laptop computer so blogging will be whatever it will be for the next seven to ten days.
Feel free to entertain yourselves and stop back by to see what interesting stuff me and the Turbo Pup get into.
Regards Y'all...
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Friday, October 08, 2010
Getting Ready To Go
Travel Preparations...
Normal people, when faced with staying over a week at a location with a lake and swimming pool, typically worry about stuff like packing bathing suits and fishing gear and stuff like that, you know?
Not me.
Since I'm the chef and the mechanic and the chief cook and bottle washer at the place...trying to handle the tasks long distance...I have to sit around this morning worrying about the list of tools I'll stuff in the trunk in anticipation of fixing all of the stuff that has broken since my last visit early in the summer.
That said, guess I'll get back to my list making.
Regards Y'all...
Normal people, when faced with staying over a week at a location with a lake and swimming pool, typically worry about stuff like packing bathing suits and fishing gear and stuff like that, you know?
Not me.
Since I'm the chef and the mechanic and the chief cook and bottle washer at the place...trying to handle the tasks long distance...I have to sit around this morning worrying about the list of tools I'll stuff in the trunk in anticipation of fixing all of the stuff that has broken since my last visit early in the summer.
That said, guess I'll get back to my list making.
Regards Y'all...
Thursday, October 07, 2010
She's Singin' 'Bout Me?
"Virgil Cain Is My Name"...
"Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train,
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again.
In the winter of '65, We were hungry, just barely alive.
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember, oh so well,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the people were singin'....
They went La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La,
Back with my wife in Tennessee, When one day she called to me,
"Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"
Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good.
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest,
But they should never have taken the very best.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the people were singin'....
Like my father before me, I will work the land,
Like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand.
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, But a Yankee laid him in his grave,
I swear by the mud below my feet,
You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the people were singin'....
Now I have to say this about that song and it's real meaning from the days of the not so "civil" war.
All of the compassionate liberal humanitarian assholes living today would be appalled by the treatment the Union soldiers purveyed upon the people living at the time south of the Mason Dixon line in the name of preserving the so-called "United States of 'Merica."
And if I said any more I would offend 75% of my readers based on the language I would have to use to implicitly explain my position on the actions both then and last week and yesterday by the "progressives"...
...so I believe that I'll just go out and put on a jacket, and take my harps and a cigar to the front porch and sit and contemplate my existence in the cool crisp evening.
And be silent for the time being.
Regards Y'all...
"Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train,
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again.
In the winter of '65, We were hungry, just barely alive.
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember, oh so well,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the people were singin'....
They went La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La,
Back with my wife in Tennessee, When one day she called to me,
"Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"
Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good.
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest,
But they should never have taken the very best.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the people were singin'....
Like my father before me, I will work the land,
Like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand.
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, But a Yankee laid him in his grave,
I swear by the mud below my feet,
You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the people were singin'....
Now I have to say this about that song and it's real meaning from the days of the not so "civil" war.
All of the compassionate liberal humanitarian assholes living today would be appalled by the treatment the Union soldiers purveyed upon the people living at the time south of the Mason Dixon line in the name of preserving the so-called "United States of 'Merica."
And if I said any more I would offend 75% of my readers based on the language I would have to use to implicitly explain my position on the actions both then and last week and yesterday by the "progressives"...
...so I believe that I'll just go out and put on a jacket, and take my harps and a cigar to the front porch and sit and contemplate my existence in the cool crisp evening.
And be silent for the time being.
Regards Y'all...
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Strange Harmonica Players
Anyone Know Who This Guy Is?
(My buddy Ferdy edited 5 cameras worth of video from the club and tossed this up on the WWW without my knowledge until tonight. It's not exactly my best vocal effort on the song because it was filmed about 2 AM on a Saturday Morning and then posted on the Internet a few months ago without my knowledge after having a LARGE TIME during an evening of Summer Time mirth and merriment...)
(My buddy Ferdy edited 5 cameras worth of video from the club and tossed this up on the WWW without my knowledge until tonight. It's not exactly my best vocal effort on the song because it was filmed about 2 AM on a Saturday Morning and then posted on the Internet a few months ago without my knowledge after having a LARGE TIME during an evening of Summer Time mirth and merriment...)
Taking Names & Kicking Butt
Random Business Ramblings...
Since Incorporating PET last October and going into business I've found that one of the coolest things about our geographic location here at the West Knoxtown Turbopup Compound is the amazingly close proximity of vendors and services critical to the support of my efforts.
For instance, the guy who is the sales rep for half of the electronic components I use including my PLC's has an office and home within about five miles of my location, and three other vendors are only twenty minutes away if I don't want to wait on FedEX to deliver stuff.
And speaking of FedEX, they have a 24 hour copy/shipping center about 3/4's of a mile from my house and as of this afternoon I'll have been there every one of the past four business days...and by Friday, assuming things go as planned, it will be five out of six business days making shipments.
Like I said in an earlier posting here...THAT'S SOME PROGRESS.
In any business it's not the number of packages coming IN the door, it's the number of boxes full of foam peanuts and bubble wrapped stuff going OUT that determines the amount of money that comes in through the mail box each month...
...and things have been rather clogged up around here for the last half of August and most of September because I couldn't seem to get everyone on the same page on specifications and delivery.
You can't imagine how relieved I am to have broken that log jam this week.
Another interesting advantage we enjoy here in Knoxtown, because of our proximity to the FedEX hub in Memphis, is that we have the ability to ship to and from places like Kansas City, Kansas and Atlanta, Georgia paying FedEX ground rates and getting TWO DAY service in the process. Overnight shipment rates are three or four times more expensive than ground.
Heck, stuff gets here from one of my Atlanta vendors overnight half the time if I place the order before noon.
So any way, I've got another long couple of days ahead of me finishing out this week before heading down to Alabama for ten days or so.
Thus blogging will be hit or miss, but then again if something STUPID happens here at home or in the rest of the world I reserve the right to chime in with some commentary.
Until then...Regards Y'all...
Since Incorporating PET last October and going into business I've found that one of the coolest things about our geographic location here at the West Knoxtown Turbopup Compound is the amazingly close proximity of vendors and services critical to the support of my efforts.
For instance, the guy who is the sales rep for half of the electronic components I use including my PLC's has an office and home within about five miles of my location, and three other vendors are only twenty minutes away if I don't want to wait on FedEX to deliver stuff.
And speaking of FedEX, they have a 24 hour copy/shipping center about 3/4's of a mile from my house and as of this afternoon I'll have been there every one of the past four business days...and by Friday, assuming things go as planned, it will be five out of six business days making shipments.
Like I said in an earlier posting here...THAT'S SOME PROGRESS.
In any business it's not the number of packages coming IN the door, it's the number of boxes full of foam peanuts and bubble wrapped stuff going OUT that determines the amount of money that comes in through the mail box each month...
...and things have been rather clogged up around here for the last half of August and most of September because I couldn't seem to get everyone on the same page on specifications and delivery.
You can't imagine how relieved I am to have broken that log jam this week.
Another interesting advantage we enjoy here in Knoxtown, because of our proximity to the FedEX hub in Memphis, is that we have the ability to ship to and from places like Kansas City, Kansas and Atlanta, Georgia paying FedEX ground rates and getting TWO DAY service in the process. Overnight shipment rates are three or four times more expensive than ground.
Heck, stuff gets here from one of my Atlanta vendors overnight half the time if I place the order before noon.
So any way, I've got another long couple of days ahead of me finishing out this week before heading down to Alabama for ten days or so.
Thus blogging will be hit or miss, but then again if something STUPID happens here at home or in the rest of the world I reserve the right to chime in with some commentary.
Until then...Regards Y'all...
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Progress
Attitude Improving Marginally?
I'm pleased to report that there's a slight glimmer of hope that this will be the most productive week around here at the International Headquarters of PET in over a month.
Good thing, because I'm seriously behind in a number of areas through no fault of my own.
I managed to get three pneumatic valves with master rebuilds out the door last Friday and three more out yesterday, and FINALLY I'm getting my programmer's attention again and he's stopping by about 9 this morning.
Hopefully we can get the bugs worked out of the code for the rebuilt Baltimore PLC and get it shipped out Wednesday, and then with any luck I'll get a couple more valves rebuilt by Friday so I can leave town and head down to the Farm in Alabama for a week.
Time to get back in the shop I guess and get ready for the day.
Wish us luck, and regards Y'all.
I'm pleased to report that there's a slight glimmer of hope that this will be the most productive week around here at the International Headquarters of PET in over a month.
Good thing, because I'm seriously behind in a number of areas through no fault of my own.
I managed to get three pneumatic valves with master rebuilds out the door last Friday and three more out yesterday, and FINALLY I'm getting my programmer's attention again and he's stopping by about 9 this morning.
Hopefully we can get the bugs worked out of the code for the rebuilt Baltimore PLC and get it shipped out Wednesday, and then with any luck I'll get a couple more valves rebuilt by Friday so I can leave town and head down to the Farm in Alabama for a week.
Time to get back in the shop I guess and get ready for the day.
Wish us luck, and regards Y'all.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
I'm Ready To Fire Everybody And Leave Town
The Fruits Of Ineptitude...
I swear to God, Ladies and Gentlemen, but virtually EVERY SINGLE VENDOR I have working for me has either lost their minds else they have gotten together and signed a pact or pledge saying they were going to screw up my product delivery schedule by every possible method.
And I'm not aware that I have done anything close to a level of deserving this kind of treatment mind you.
I pay their (my vendors/creditors) invoices on time, in full.
I generally allow for reasonable delivery schedules and I pay the asking price for the products without too much haggling.
So they must just want to go out of their way to torture me...
...so they can watch me have shivering, angry fits causing my blood pressure to rise, veins to pop out of my neck and forehead, and what's left of the hair on my ever greying, ever balding head to fall down to the ground.
Seriously...
Twenty years ago there would be a half dozen people in cities as remote as Michigan and as close as Nashville that would have been cursed out on the telephone or possibly in person as a result of the stupidity and mistakes I've had to endure in the past couple of months.
But I've gotten mellow in my older age and elect to hold my tongue more often these days.
It's unbelievable to me that in an economic climate where so many people are out of work that the people that still have jobs can perform their functions in such a feckless and obtuse manner.
You know?
I'd like to put into place some sort of system where customers could hit a button and cause the moron on the other end of the telephone to be ejected from their chair and out of the building and some other poor yet competent slob (or slobbette) would magically appear in their position...pajamas and house slippers and all.
That would make a great TV commercial...sort of like the Staples "Easy Button"...
ONLY BETTER AND MORE SATISFYING.
Now where did I put my really BIG hammer...
I swear to God, Ladies and Gentlemen, but virtually EVERY SINGLE VENDOR I have working for me has either lost their minds else they have gotten together and signed a pact or pledge saying they were going to screw up my product delivery schedule by every possible method.
And I'm not aware that I have done anything close to a level of deserving this kind of treatment mind you.
I pay their (my vendors/creditors) invoices on time, in full.
I generally allow for reasonable delivery schedules and I pay the asking price for the products without too much haggling.
So they must just want to go out of their way to torture me...
...so they can watch me have shivering, angry fits causing my blood pressure to rise, veins to pop out of my neck and forehead, and what's left of the hair on my ever greying, ever balding head to fall down to the ground.
Seriously...
Twenty years ago there would be a half dozen people in cities as remote as Michigan and as close as Nashville that would have been cursed out on the telephone or possibly in person as a result of the stupidity and mistakes I've had to endure in the past couple of months.
But I've gotten mellow in my older age and elect to hold my tongue more often these days.
It's unbelievable to me that in an economic climate where so many people are out of work that the people that still have jobs can perform their functions in such a feckless and obtuse manner.
You know?
I'd like to put into place some sort of system where customers could hit a button and cause the moron on the other end of the telephone to be ejected from their chair and out of the building and some other poor yet competent slob (or slobbette) would magically appear in their position...pajamas and house slippers and all.
That would make a great TV commercial...sort of like the Staples "Easy Button"...
ONLY BETTER AND MORE SATISFYING.
Now where did I put my really BIG hammer...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Hump Day
This Working For A Livin' Stuff Sucks...
Just in case you haven't noticed, I've actually been sort of busy professionally now for several weeks in a row.
Amazing.
I'm not quite sure how it happened, and some of the time I wish it hadn't happened, but it did any way in spite of my sometimes inept efforts.
And so here I am this morning., too busy to write much in the way of a blog posting.
That said, y'all have a LOVELY day, and I'll try to stop by later if something comes up worth complaining about.
Just in case you haven't noticed, I've actually been sort of busy professionally now for several weeks in a row.
Amazing.
I'm not quite sure how it happened, and some of the time I wish it hadn't happened, but it did any way in spite of my sometimes inept efforts.
And so here I am this morning., too busy to write much in the way of a blog posting.
That said, y'all have a LOVELY day, and I'll try to stop by later if something comes up worth complaining about.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Blogging Deliquency
Mental Malaise
Sorry for the silence here on the blog, but I've been extremely busy this past week.
Instead of sitting around on the beach last week in Florida I've been working my butt off here in Knoxtown courting a new customer which could provide several months worth of full time consulting work designing a new production process, and at the end of the day my mind has just been too fried to write much worth reading some times.
I just realized that I missed writing two days in a row (Sunday and Monday) and a total of four days on the blog calendar in the past week, and if I checked back in my archives I'd find that it's probably only been three or four times in the past couple of years that has occurred (unless I was laying on my back in the hospital.)
So any way, when I wasn't working I've been sitting with my eyes rolled back in my skull watching the feckless, obtuse idiots at the United Nations wander around on US soil telling us how to do things and complain about how the United By-God States of 'Merica and the rest of the developed world doesn't pay their fair share to the "Developing Countries" and their despotic leaders.
And then they let that little Capuchin Monkey, also known as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (I'd like to see that name on "Wheel of Fortune") come to NY City and insult us to our faces.
I wonder just how much money the US taxpayers were forced to spend providing security to keep some good Redneck from taking his Deer Rifle and firing a 30-06 round through this silly little useless bastard's Chest?
I know he brought his own Iranian security goons with him, but the pansy assed liberal US CIA and Secret Service--the same morons that couldn't keep idiots from shooting George Wallace, Gerald Ford, and President Reagan--did a fine job of letting the Iranian President do a smirking Victory Tour right here in our back yard while at the same time threatening Israel and most of the Western World on a daily basis.
Any way, I've got to get an early start this morning again, so I'll have to let that brief rant stand on it's own for the time being.
Of course, as usual, I reserve the right to chime in on a moment's notice if I see something on TV or hear something on the radio talk shows that sets me off in my usual fashion.
Y'all have a LOVELY day now...if you will...
Sorry for the silence here on the blog, but I've been extremely busy this past week.
Instead of sitting around on the beach last week in Florida I've been working my butt off here in Knoxtown courting a new customer which could provide several months worth of full time consulting work designing a new production process, and at the end of the day my mind has just been too fried to write much worth reading some times.
I just realized that I missed writing two days in a row (Sunday and Monday) and a total of four days on the blog calendar in the past week, and if I checked back in my archives I'd find that it's probably only been three or four times in the past couple of years that has occurred (unless I was laying on my back in the hospital.)
So any way, when I wasn't working I've been sitting with my eyes rolled back in my skull watching the feckless, obtuse idiots at the United Nations wander around on US soil telling us how to do things and complain about how the United By-God States of 'Merica and the rest of the developed world doesn't pay their fair share to the "Developing Countries" and their despotic leaders.
And then they let that little Capuchin Monkey, also known as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (I'd like to see that name on "Wheel of Fortune") come to NY City and insult us to our faces.
I wonder just how much money the US taxpayers were forced to spend providing security to keep some good Redneck from taking his Deer Rifle and firing a 30-06 round through this silly little useless bastard's Chest?
I know he brought his own Iranian security goons with him, but the pansy assed liberal US CIA and Secret Service--the same morons that couldn't keep idiots from shooting George Wallace, Gerald Ford, and President Reagan--did a fine job of letting the Iranian President do a smirking Victory Tour right here in our back yard while at the same time threatening Israel and most of the Western World on a daily basis.
Any way, I've got to get an early start this morning again, so I'll have to let that brief rant stand on it's own for the time being.
Of course, as usual, I reserve the right to chime in on a moment's notice if I see something on TV or hear something on the radio talk shows that sets me off in my usual fashion.
Y'all have a LOVELY day now...if you will...
Saturday, September 25, 2010
It's S A T U R D A Y ! !
Foolin' Around All Day...
I'm going to do EXACTLY what I want to do all day today after surviving a withering week of BS and dealing with the incompetence of some of my critical vendors.
It's one thing to be three or four weeks late with some products, but to then have me drive across Knoxtown to pick them up...
...and then get them back here to the shop and find out they were only partially finished?
So yesterday I had to drag the box of parts BACK down to the Machine Shop and hopefully I will see something again some time early next week.
I've been paying these guys early but I suspect they might wait longer than 30 days to get a check from me this time.
So any way...I have a half painted french door in the dining room to finish dealing with, and then Georgia Tech plays NC State on ESPN at noon and it's pretty much going to take an act of congress to get me out of the bed or off of the sofa for the next 24 hours.
Hope everyone has at least half as good a weekend as I plan on having.
Regards Y'all...
I'm going to do EXACTLY what I want to do all day today after surviving a withering week of BS and dealing with the incompetence of some of my critical vendors.
It's one thing to be three or four weeks late with some products, but to then have me drive across Knoxtown to pick them up...
...and then get them back here to the shop and find out they were only partially finished?
So yesterday I had to drag the box of parts BACK down to the Machine Shop and hopefully I will see something again some time early next week.
I've been paying these guys early but I suspect they might wait longer than 30 days to get a check from me this time.
So any way...I have a half painted french door in the dining room to finish dealing with, and then Georgia Tech plays NC State on ESPN at noon and it's pretty much going to take an act of congress to get me out of the bed or off of the sofa for the next 24 hours.
Hope everyone has at least half as good a weekend as I plan on having.
Regards Y'all...
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Self-Induced Home Improvement Insanity
What Ever You Do...Don't Listen To The "Professionals"...
So there I was, sitting around all comfortable on my sofa some time last Summer--I think it was in June or July of 2009--when I put down my beer and I said to my self...I said:
"Self...you need get up off of your butt, drive down to Home Depot, and get the stuff needed to replace that old crappy 48 year old painted carport door you have there in the Kitchen with a nice stained wooden French door with lots of windows."
Then in an extended conniption fit of mental malaise, I said..."and while you are at it, why not cut a hole through the wood and bricks in the back wall of the dining room and put in another Painted French door with a bunch of glass..."
And then, for the grand Finale...
"If you do all of that stuff, you're just gonna have to buy a another 6'-8" high by 3'-0" wide 100 pound slab of wood and replace your front door, but this time make it solid and just drill a little, itty, bitty hole, in it and put in one of those peep-hole thingies so you can spy on who ever is at your door rather than just looking out the giant picture window two feet away."
And so I did.
BUY all of that stuff needed to do all of those projects last summer.
Problem is, by the time I got the hole pounded through the back wall of the house through the bricks and the associated new deck finished...
and did I mention the new Turbo Pup door in the wall, also cut through solid brick?
It was all I could manage to do to get the old carport door taken down and the new bare door slab cut to match the existing hinges and door strike positions in the old hand built, vintage 1963 wood door frames.
Thus through last winter and all of this spring and summer until about three weeks ago two of my three new doors (not counting the Turbo Pup door) hung un-stained/un-painted in their openings.
And the new front door slab?
It's a random piece of art still today out on my carport (hoping to be installed next week.)
And any way, recently I opened up the year old cans of wood grain sealer and Maple colored stain and Spar Polyurethane and proceeded to slather a new color and finish on the bare wood of the Carport door.
Problem was, instead of using blue painters' masking tape to cover the glass of TWELVE GLASS PANES, I listened to an acquaintance's father who is a self proclaimed "professional" house painter and he told me to just slap the finish on the door and then use a razor blade and mineral spirits to clean the stain and paint off when I was finished.
I'd like to just write the word "W R O N G" here and be done with the subject.
But...
I my considered Redneck experience the guy just wasn't W R O N G, he was freaking stoned or hallucinating.
I've just gotten through with three days working part time dealing with the biggest clean up mess ever seen since a buddy's wife decided to give her dog an enema (don't ask.)
At first I swore that dynamite wouldn't get the crap off of the glass panes of my new door.
But then finally, using a combination of razor blades, a chemical called "Goof Off" (Imagine that), and some 000 steel wool along with a pint of Vodka (internal operator lubricant) and some massive personal determination as of about three PM today I have a fairly nice looking new French door.
And all I know is my "Professional" painter might have suffered a good cursing out if I had seen him this past week while I was suffering (and twenty five years ago there might have been black eyes and broken noses involved in the proceedings.)
But any way, one and one-half doors installed (paint on the rear French door going on tomorrow), and then next week I hope to get the front door cut in and installed before the first snow storm.
Wish me luck...If you will...
So there I was, sitting around all comfortable on my sofa some time last Summer--I think it was in June or July of 2009--when I put down my beer and I said to my self...I said:
"Self...you need get up off of your butt, drive down to Home Depot, and get the stuff needed to replace that old crappy 48 year old painted carport door you have there in the Kitchen with a nice stained wooden French door with lots of windows."
Then in an extended conniption fit of mental malaise, I said..."and while you are at it, why not cut a hole through the wood and bricks in the back wall of the dining room and put in another Painted French door with a bunch of glass..."
And then, for the grand Finale...
"If you do all of that stuff, you're just gonna have to buy a another 6'-8" high by 3'-0" wide 100 pound slab of wood and replace your front door, but this time make it solid and just drill a little, itty, bitty hole, in it and put in one of those peep-hole thingies so you can spy on who ever is at your door rather than just looking out the giant picture window two feet away."
And so I did.
BUY all of that stuff needed to do all of those projects last summer.
Problem is, by the time I got the hole pounded through the back wall of the house through the bricks and the associated new deck finished...
and did I mention the new Turbo Pup door in the wall, also cut through solid brick?
It was all I could manage to do to get the old carport door taken down and the new bare door slab cut to match the existing hinges and door strike positions in the old hand built, vintage 1963 wood door frames.
Thus through last winter and all of this spring and summer until about three weeks ago two of my three new doors (not counting the Turbo Pup door) hung un-stained/un-painted in their openings.
And the new front door slab?
It's a random piece of art still today out on my carport (hoping to be installed next week.)
And any way, recently I opened up the year old cans of wood grain sealer and Maple colored stain and Spar Polyurethane and proceeded to slather a new color and finish on the bare wood of the Carport door.
Problem was, instead of using blue painters' masking tape to cover the glass of TWELVE GLASS PANES, I listened to an acquaintance's father who is a self proclaimed "professional" house painter and he told me to just slap the finish on the door and then use a razor blade and mineral spirits to clean the stain and paint off when I was finished.
I'd like to just write the word "W R O N G" here and be done with the subject.
But...
I my considered Redneck experience the guy just wasn't W R O N G, he was freaking stoned or hallucinating.
I've just gotten through with three days working part time dealing with the biggest clean up mess ever seen since a buddy's wife decided to give her dog an enema (don't ask.)
At first I swore that dynamite wouldn't get the crap off of the glass panes of my new door.
But then finally, using a combination of razor blades, a chemical called "Goof Off" (Imagine that), and some 000 steel wool along with a pint of Vodka (internal operator lubricant) and some massive personal determination as of about three PM today I have a fairly nice looking new French door.
And all I know is my "Professional" painter might have suffered a good cursing out if I had seen him this past week while I was suffering (and twenty five years ago there might have been black eyes and broken noses involved in the proceedings.)
But any way, one and one-half doors installed (paint on the rear French door going on tomorrow), and then next week I hope to get the front door cut in and installed before the first snow storm.
Wish me luck...If you will...
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
My First You Tube Submission
Blackwater Grill Rocks...
I mentioned a couple of times here on the blog that back this last spring my buddy John down on St. Simons Island, Georgia had the pleasure of having his restaurant--Blackwater Grill--featured on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."
We caught the show when it was broadcast but missed Mr. Howton's viewing party because we were stuck up here in East Tennessee when the show aired (and we were invited to the filming but again we were 8 hours away and couldn't do the trip at the time.)
So any way, here's the You Tube video I sent out last night from the DVD I received in the mail yesterday:
The head Chef Jamie and I have cooked together in the SSI Chili Cookoff the past two years and I've been asked to do the event again next year with this wonderful group of people.
If you have never been to our little island St. Simons you really are missing a beautiful unique destination, and if you've been there you know I know what I'm talking about.
I mentioned a couple of times here on the blog that back this last spring my buddy John down on St. Simons Island, Georgia had the pleasure of having his restaurant--Blackwater Grill--featured on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."
We caught the show when it was broadcast but missed Mr. Howton's viewing party because we were stuck up here in East Tennessee when the show aired (and we were invited to the filming but again we were 8 hours away and couldn't do the trip at the time.)
So any way, here's the You Tube video I sent out last night from the DVD I received in the mail yesterday:
The head Chef Jamie and I have cooked together in the SSI Chili Cookoff the past two years and I've been asked to do the event again next year with this wonderful group of people.
If you have never been to
I'm Supposed To Be At The Beach Now?
This Working For A Living Crap Sucks...
OK, I'm not quite sure what is happening but for the third time in as many months we've had to cancel a trip away from the Turbo Pup Compound here on the banks of the Mighty Tennessee River.
This most recent malfunction was due in part to Pat having a a slight illness causing Vertigo, and then I came up with a fit of new work which had to be done by the middle of next week. Thus leaving town for ten days or two weeks was just out of the question since the trip was supposed to begin last Wednesday.
Pat's still taking a week off and just hanging around with me and the Turbo Puppy, but I have an erratic work schedule and am also trying to get some lingering home improvement projects finished--like the year old wood door stain and polyurethane on the carport project, and the new front door slab installation project and so on ...
...and...well, you get my drift.
I really, Really, REALLY would rather be at the beach right now but other more important things prevented that from happening, and what drives me crazy is how the government treats people that work for themselves and earn a living without actually getting a regular paycheck from some evil rich business owner or the government.
You see, I don't get paid unless I work, and I can't just run off on vacation and still have money coming in the door in the form of sick leave or vacation pay, and yet the government--local and national--acts like every single dollar I manage to bring into the mail box is their money until I can prove that I have some reason to claim it for myself.
Doesn't that suck? And next year or the year after if things go as planned our family could actually be one of those evil groups of people with an apparent income of over $250,000 because I own a Subchapter S business and all of the money earned passes to the owner(s)and Pat makes a nice living at her job.
It's a sad day when class and wealth envy created by the government and the government education system and associated programs make a large part of the population believe that people don't deserve to keep a substantial portion of the money they earn by working and sacrificing and doing the things that it takes to make above "average" income.
I guess you could understand why there might be an incentive to not make any money if all the government is going to do is step in and claim 39% or 50% of it at the end of the year.
Maybe I'm just dense or stupid, but still, here I sit this morning, 600 miles away from the ocean, processing invoices and purchase orders and worrying about having to beat the idiots at the local Machine Shop into getting some finished parts back to me next week....
...and worrying about how I can afford to hire an accountant this year to keep me out of trouble with the IRS next year.
It's amazing that I'm trying to throw money at vendors and having trouble getting them to do anything in the process?
I guess that the good news is that apparently there is some business being conducted out there somewhere, and the few people that still have jobs are busy so I just have to wait for their services.
Speaking of busy...time for me to get back to work I guess...
Y'all have a LOVELY Sunday...If you will...
OK, I'm not quite sure what is happening but for the third time in as many months we've had to cancel a trip away from the Turbo Pup Compound here on the banks of the Mighty Tennessee River.
This most recent malfunction was due in part to Pat having a a slight illness causing Vertigo, and then I came up with a fit of new work which had to be done by the middle of next week. Thus leaving town for ten days or two weeks was just out of the question since the trip was supposed to begin last Wednesday.
Pat's still taking a week off and just hanging around with me and the Turbo Puppy, but I have an erratic work schedule and am also trying to get some lingering home improvement projects finished--like the year old wood door stain and polyurethane on the carport project, and the new front door slab installation project and so on ...
...and...well, you get my drift.
I really, Really, REALLY would rather be at the beach right now but other more important things prevented that from happening, and what drives me crazy is how the government treats people that work for themselves and earn a living without actually getting a regular paycheck from some evil rich business owner or the government.
You see, I don't get paid unless I work, and I can't just run off on vacation and still have money coming in the door in the form of sick leave or vacation pay, and yet the government--local and national--acts like every single dollar I manage to bring into the mail box is their money until I can prove that I have some reason to claim it for myself.
Doesn't that suck? And next year or the year after if things go as planned our family could actually be one of those evil groups of people with an apparent income of over $250,000 because I own a Subchapter S business and all of the money earned passes to the owner(s)and Pat makes a nice living at her job.
It's a sad day when class and wealth envy created by the government and the government education system and associated programs make a large part of the population believe that people don't deserve to keep a substantial portion of the money they earn by working and sacrificing and doing the things that it takes to make above "average" income.
I guess you could understand why there might be an incentive to not make any money if all the government is going to do is step in and claim 39% or 50% of it at the end of the year.
Maybe I'm just dense or stupid, but still, here I sit this morning, 600 miles away from the ocean, processing invoices and purchase orders and worrying about having to beat the idiots at the local Machine Shop into getting some finished parts back to me next week....
...and worrying about how I can afford to hire an accountant this year to keep me out of trouble with the IRS next year.
It's amazing that I'm trying to throw money at vendors and having trouble getting them to do anything in the process?
I guess that the good news is that apparently there is some business being conducted out there somewhere, and the few people that still have jobs are busy so I just have to wait for their services.
Speaking of busy...time for me to get back to work I guess...
Y'all have a LOVELY Sunday...If you will...
Friday, September 17, 2010
Age Old Old Age Paranoia
Am I Getting Ready To Hunker Down Or Just Bug Out?
I just realized today that looking at me and my stuff from the outside, one could easily accuse me of becoming paranoid in my old age middle age.
For instance, ever since I moved to Florida back on September 12, 2001 (I was supposed to leave Atlanta on 9/11 but the dang Saudis got in my way), and continuing over to St. Simons Island, Georgia and now the past few years up here in Knoxtown at the Turbo Pup Compound I've spent more and more time and money on stuff that I don't need yesterday or even today, but that I might need in the event of an emergency next week or next month or next year...
...or the year after that.
Stuff like gallon jugs of drinking water sitting around in the bottom of hall closets.
Or the 1.5 KW electric generator that's still shrink wrapped in it's original cardboard box.
How about dozens of candles and matches and lighters and the two antique oil burning lanterns and wicks and fuel in the Dining room Sideboard cabinet?
And then there is the kerosine heater likewise sitting in it's original packaging unopened in the basement beside the generator.
Now it's come to my attention that not only do I need to worry about living past a Hurricane when residing on the Ocean or a snow/ice storm here in Knoxtown, but now with Obama and the Democrats' lax attitude toward the production of Nuclear weapons by North Korea and now Iran...
I'm still short of some other critical components in my ultimate dooms day inventory.
Things like extra charcoal for my grill to be stored in the basement for future use.
Or some additional canned non-perishable food stuffs--possibly some military style MRE's (meals ready to eat)--to cover a few weeks if not months,and now I want to build something to protect a few pieces of electronic equipment in the event of an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) attack by some wild eyed towel headed morons.
I have an extra laptop PC and a AC/DC radio and some other stuff that would be valuable in the event of an infrastructure breakdown and I've learned that in order to keep a giant blast of electrical noise from frying everything that it is possible to build what is called a "Faraday Cage"--basically a metal screen enclosed storage box, area, or even an entire room...which is connected to a dedicated ground wire and grounding rod.
The idea is that through the laws of physics (which I understand but won't bore you with Gausian surface theory this morning) the system will collect the burst of energy from a lightening strike or nuclear EMP bomb and short it around the shielded area and into the ground in an effort to protect the delicate chips in modern electronic devices so they won't fry themselves.
So any way, now instead of spending time blogging further this morning, I'm going to go back to my research efforts and hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll add this feature to my ever growing basement bunker complex.
Meanwhile, don't be a stranger. Just call before you stop by, and knock before you enter, because until after the November election my trigger finger is a little twitchy for some reason.
Regards Y'all...
I just realized today that looking at me and my stuff from the outside, one could easily accuse me of becoming paranoid in my
For instance, ever since I moved to Florida back on September 12, 2001 (I was supposed to leave Atlanta on 9/11 but the dang Saudis got in my way), and continuing over to St. Simons Island, Georgia and now the past few years up here in Knoxtown at the Turbo Pup Compound I've spent more and more time and money on stuff that I don't need yesterday or even today, but that I might need in the event of an emergency next week or next month or next year...
...or the year after that.
Stuff like gallon jugs of drinking water sitting around in the bottom of hall closets.
Or the 1.5 KW electric generator that's still shrink wrapped in it's original cardboard box.
How about dozens of candles and matches and lighters and the two antique oil burning lanterns and wicks and fuel in the Dining room Sideboard cabinet?
And then there is the kerosine heater likewise sitting in it's original packaging unopened in the basement beside the generator.
Now it's come to my attention that not only do I need to worry about living past a Hurricane when residing on the Ocean or a snow/ice storm here in Knoxtown, but now with Obama and the Democrats' lax attitude toward the production of Nuclear weapons by North Korea and now Iran...
I'm still short of some other critical components in my ultimate dooms day inventory.
Things like extra charcoal for my grill to be stored in the basement for future use.
Or some additional canned non-perishable food stuffs--possibly some military style MRE's (meals ready to eat)--to cover a few weeks if not months,and now I want to build something to protect a few pieces of electronic equipment in the event of an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) attack by some wild eyed towel headed morons.
I have an extra laptop PC and a AC/DC radio and some other stuff that would be valuable in the event of an infrastructure breakdown and I've learned that in order to keep a giant blast of electrical noise from frying everything that it is possible to build what is called a "Faraday Cage"--basically a metal screen enclosed storage box, area, or even an entire room...which is connected to a dedicated ground wire and grounding rod.
The idea is that through the laws of physics (which I understand but won't bore you with Gausian surface theory this morning) the system will collect the burst of energy from a lightening strike or nuclear EMP bomb and short it around the shielded area and into the ground in an effort to protect the delicate chips in modern electronic devices so they won't fry themselves.
So any way, now instead of spending time blogging further this morning, I'm going to go back to my research efforts and hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll add this feature to my ever growing basement bunker complex.
Meanwhile, don't be a stranger. Just call before you stop by, and knock before you enter, because until after the November election my trigger finger is a little twitchy for some reason.
Regards Y'all...
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Nothing To Say...
...So I'll Say (Write) Nothing...
(Stay tuned to this channel for a good rant shortly.)
(Stay tuned to this channel for a good rant shortly.)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Retarded Television
If You Wonder Who's Voting...
I don't know, but does anyone but me lose their mind when they try to watch TV during the hours between about 4 AM and 7 AM?
Apparently the demographic is either pimple faced kids seeking acne cures, middle aged men with sexual "performance" issues, vain women looking to cover up their "skin imperfections" so they can catch a man buying the "performance" enhancing drugs (and hoping for an erection which lasts longer than four hours) else they are people who want to sit on the sofa watching videos about "cash flow" systems and buying real estate with no money down.
Then of course there are the people that want to lose 257 pounds, 3 ounces in eight weeks using some sort of exercise machine which hides conveniently under the bed or in the closet while eating some sort of food shipped to their door in little freeze dried packets which tastes like something prepared by a professional chef in a five star restaurant.
But I have to ask...what about ME?
Old slightly past middle aged guys who have survived our Acne years, given up on things like sex and making much money and not really caring about losing the weight gained while consuming pounds of butter and bacon fat?
All I can say is thank GOD for the Internet and YouTube and important videos like this one:
Gnuck...Gnuck...Gnuck...whoop whoop whoop...
(MORE...a half hour later)
Then there is stuff I still have like this on VHS Video Tape:
"Looks like this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship..."
I don't know, but does anyone but me lose their mind when they try to watch TV during the hours between about 4 AM and 7 AM?
Apparently the demographic is either pimple faced kids seeking acne cures, middle aged men with sexual "performance" issues, vain women looking to cover up their "skin imperfections" so they can catch a man buying the "performance" enhancing drugs (and hoping for an erection which lasts longer than four hours) else they are people who want to sit on the sofa watching videos about "cash flow" systems and buying real estate with no money down.
Then of course there are the people that want to lose 257 pounds, 3 ounces in eight weeks using some sort of exercise machine which hides conveniently under the bed or in the closet while eating some sort of food shipped to their door in little freeze dried packets which tastes like something prepared by a professional chef in a five star restaurant.
But I have to ask...what about ME?
Old slightly past middle aged guys who have survived our Acne years, given up on things like sex and making much money and not really caring about losing the weight gained while consuming pounds of butter and bacon fat?
All I can say is thank GOD for the Internet and YouTube and important videos like this one:
Gnuck...Gnuck...Gnuck...whoop whoop whoop...
(MORE...a half hour later)
Then there is stuff I still have like this on VHS Video Tape:
"Looks like this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship..."
