It's another Tequila, Monday*

Ok, Campers, we are officially back on our normally scheduled postings.  Beans, that means I only have to write one post a week, not one daily for 11 days or so.

Folks, I don't know how Sarge does it (and gets it done as superbly as he does).  Heck, almost all the posts I did in the past couple of weeks were reruns.  Still a bit of work, updating them a bit, choosing better verbage, fixing misspelled words. That sort of thing.  And even with all that already done, getting it published was still a bit harder than I thought it would be.

Beans, that means the next time Sarge goes AWOL, you've got the keys to the blog until he shows back up.  Your gonna  love it.  I absolutely guarantee. Bwaa-Ha-Ha!

Anyhow.... An update on the Mrs J and my "Move to College Station Front".  Some progress has been made.  Almost a month ago, we had a realtor from Colorado contact our Realtor and ask him if he could visit and video our house.  Our Realtor contacted Mrs. J and I.  We went into the clean and store extraneous stuff out of sight mode.  That was the easy part of this episode.

Their realtor came by and did his Cecil B. DeMille work and emailed it to them.  Didn't hear back from them for about 3 weeks.  Oh Well!

But then, their realtor contacted ours and said they wanted to fly down and do a walk through the following week.  We were able to work out a date which worked for AlCon.  That morning, as the time of the walkthrough approached and the house had been set again (we're getting pretty good at that!), we loaded up the 4 dogs on leashes and the cat in a carrier and put the gaggle in the two cars.  Drove into Town and went to the Sonic Drive-In for a Route 44 Diet Limeaid with Burgers and Fries. Taking lunch slow and easy for an hour and a half until we got the all clear.

Well, they asked our Realtor if we would accept a Contingency clause of 60 days so they could sell their house in Colorado.  Since that's what we will have to do soon with the house we like in College Station, we understood that the Real Estate market isn't exactly booming, so we said OK.  Haven't gotten that paper work yet (or the offer), but progress!  

So, fingers crossed and prayers going heavenward relatively frequently. We shall see what will be!

One of the irritating things about getting the house ready as well as living in the country is animals.  Now, I'm not talking about our pets, or our horses. (Oh, did I mention the folks from Colorado have horses and want to bring them with them?  Merlot and Cabernet (our horses) will have some new friends (if this goes through, Please Lord!)

Back on Subject, juvat!  On subject, Aye, Sarge.

No, animals as in undomesticated animals.  It seems we have a Roll of Armadillo on our property. A "Roll" is what a herd of Armadillos is called, didn't know that until now. Now you do also!  

ANYHOW!  They don't really do any damage to the property and they do keep the ant population under control.

BUT, I'm sure you remember our two adopted Great Pyrenees (GPs) , Atticus and Gryndhll. 

Atticus

Gryndyll . Both have been on guard duty all night outside, Chasing who knows what!

Well...They seem to like "playing" with the Armadillos. No, Beans, the Armadillos don't reciprocate in the liking of the game.  

In any case the Armadillos seem to have taken residence under the shed where we store our lawn mowers and other gardening equipment.  It's far enough off the ground that they can get under it, but not the dogs.  But like all of the Lord's creatures they must eat.  Since the GP's are guard dogs by genetics and bark at any strange noise and I like my sleep, they have been sentenced to spend the night outside.  Which is when the armadillos come out to eat.  That's when the fun and games begin.

Well,  I've gotten used to waking up in the morning, getting dressed, getting a shovel out of the garage and scouting the yard for dead armadillos.  Yes, Beans, the dogs' Kill Ratio is rather high.  I'm thinking about painting Armadillo silhouettes on the sides of their Dog House, but I'm pretty sure (OK positive) Mrs J will not approve.  Party Pooper!

(Update as of this morning) Canine armadillo Kill Ratio went up by one.

Just in case anyone thinks I'm spoofin them.
 

So, Mrs J has decreed that my anti-armadillo project for today, as you are reading this, is to put some wire mesh for horses around the bottom of the shed to see if that keeps them away.  So it is written, so it shall be! 

Finally, this week has an important date in it.  It's one of the two most important dates for me to remember in any given year under a penalty worse than death.  Any married guy reading this already knows what dates they are.  Yep, Beans,  the date of your Anniversary and her Birthday.  This one happens to be our Anniversary.

So, I've spent the last few days in my workshop working on a Top Secret project for our kitchen.  Saw it on a YouTube video.  It's a 6 part video on easy gifts to make (They had me sold at "Easy").  This one was #5.

Yeah, I threw in a new Cookbook also

It's a combination Cookbook holder and can be used as a cutting board if needed.  The Board itself is popler and walnut. The Stand is Maple.  3 coats of Lacquer for the finish.  Mrs. J thinks it looks fabulous.

That opinion is the only thing that matters!

 Well, that summarizes a fairly busy week.  I'm looking forward to Sarge getting his Muse spun back up to speed and some of his excellent posts coming into view.

Peace out, y'all! 

*With apologies to the Eagles

Tyvek, the Devil's Tape, Redux!

 

 Well to start off on an up note, a year ago this Wednesday was a good day in the juvat household.  Mrs. J got zapped for the last time on that day.  (Beans, zapped is the official juvat terminology for radiation treatment. It just sits better with me.)  Once we got through that, there'was a 30 day R&R period and then surgery to visually confirm the little buggers were in fact dead and then remove their rotten bodies.

Yeah, it's been a long ride in the last 20+ months since this situation began. Visits to the medical folks are about 1 per month.   The Doctors and Medical Staff have been great. They've been very supportive, generally upbeat and answering my stupid questions without laughing (too much).  Well done y'all!

Not out of the woods yet, but the trees are thinning out . She had a colonoscopy last Friday.  I was fairly tense as she went in and while she was in surgery.  When they wheeled her back in to the recovery room, she was still asleep and the nurse wouldn't talk about it.  Finally the surgeon showed up.  His first words were "One small benign polyp, which was removed. Nothing else in there.  She's good to go!"  A quick "Thank You, Lord!" as well as a "Thanks, Doc!" were extended to the responsible parties.

 It will be nice for the both of us to go places, visit family and not have to worry if that's just a cold that one of the Grand Kids has or if it's the flu.  Yeah, been a long ride for both of us, and I had the easy part.

But... Thank all y'all for the prayers and kind thoughts throughout.  VERY MUCH APPRECIATED.

Now, on with the post.  One of the sanity enhancers for me while this episode was going on is woodworking and woodworking projects.  One of those was a request for a Pikler triangle for my middle Grand child. She and her mom were living in one of our guest houses at the time as Little J was on a Solo Assignment.  They're now in England.  Need to get the final permission from the Doctor for Mrs J and I to deploy overseas and visit them.  But that should be happening shortly.

 This would be a Pikler Triangle. Source

My Mental Picture of the finished project is a little different. Here's my version of the triangle itself, just the slide still needing construction.

I had a piece of melamine covered particle board left over from a project a couple of years ago.  I decided I'd use that for the slide as shown in the top picture.  LJW had said she didn't want the climbing grips on it, she wanted a slide.  So it is written, so it shall be.

I went into my wood storage loft and found the left over melamine.  It was just about the right dimensions and I'd even covered it with plastic tape to keep the melamine from getting scratched and ruined.

Little did I realize the enormity of that mistake.

I had confided to LJW that I'd have the project finished in a day or so. I think that's called "hubris", and we all know how that ends.

 In any case, I was on the last step in the plan, so, I pulled my melamine board out of storage, noted that I had preserved it by covering the melamine with Tyvek and patted myself on the back for keeping it looking good.  Put it on my work bench, got out my pocket knife and got ready to pull it off.

I think Tyvek in the original ancient Greek means "Stronger than the gods'.

So, in actuality, I started to TRY to pull it off.  Just wasn't happening.  Knowing that my wonderful wife has lots of concoctions with various powers in the house, I went there and asked her for something to remove tape. 

She recommended Goo Gone which she already had stored in her witchcraft cupboard.  Grabbed it,  went and soaked a smallish area of the Tyvek, went away for a half hour or so to let it work it's magic.  Returned, not much removal improvement.  Reapplied and tried again. This time, I tried that in conjunction with a hot air gun.

Nope!  It wasn't coming off very well, lots of very small pieces coming off, even more left behind.  So, I decided to visit Lowe's and ask my good friends there (who had sold me the Tyvek) what the best way to remove it was.  They huddled for a few moments throwing furtive glances at me over their shoulders.  Came back and recommended Goo Gone.  I told them I had and it didn't work.  They then recommended Goof Off and/or Paint Thinner.  

I bought both.  I also saw a angled scraper and bought it.  Went home and got to work. 3 days worth of about 3 or 4, 2 hour scraping sessions per day with R&R for wrist and Dust Mask/Face shield recovery as well as chemical smell recovery in between. (Yes Beans, the Fan was on and the windows were open).

 I'm now at this point.

Most of the Tape, per se, is gone, but...

 

As one can see, although the tape is gone, the glue, however, is still remaining.  I'm pretty sure that should Miss B start to slide down it under these circumstances, she's going to get about 6" and come to a screeching stop stuck to the board.

I'm going to give it one more once over with the chemicals to try and remove the glue.  However, IMHO, my sanity is worth more than $50, should that fail, I'm going to buy a new melamine covered particle board and start over.

I received many suggestions handle the problem .  Despite Bean's suggestion,  a flamethrower was not considered a viable option, He suggested it again. I declined again, but, the old board did encounter a very hot demise.  In our burn pit.

Yes, Beans, there might have been a few cackles and a "Bwaa Ha Ha" or two involved.

The Pickler triangle was a big hit, haven't checked on it since they moved to England to see if they still use it.  Will discuss that in the next phone call. 

Peace out, y'all.

juvat

Busy as a Bee!

 I'm not sure what this is called. It's been so long I've pretty much forgotten what it's called.  I think it's something like Vacay, but since Blogger put a squiggly line under it, that can't be right.  My 4 years of HS Spanish says it's vacaciones  and since I can say "Hello" and "One more Beer, please" in Spanish I'm virtually fluent, right?  Google translate says that's "vacation".  Huh?  What's that?

End Sarcasm

So, Mrs J and I, along with Little J, LJW and Miss B are traveling to College Station to visit MBD, The Rev and the other two grand kids.  Additionally, we will be honing our construction skills, as that slavedriver, MBD, would like her laundry room improved. 

She wants a clothes folding shelf in there.

Your wish is my command.  

I am looking forward to a new project as I have finished the two that I have been working on.

First, the Quilt Display

 

I think it turned out pretty well.

I also turned a rolling pin for Mrs J and she asked me to create a place to store it while still keeping it handy (I think the urgency might involve the rolling pin and my head as she tries to hammer some sense into me.  Good luck with that, Honey!)

But, this also turned out pretty well.

Unfortunately, this is going to take all weekend with RTB on Monday.  So...This is the best I can do for a post as scheduled.  

I suspect this will be very similar to my actions come Monday PM.

Peace out, y'all.  Bigger, Better, Faster next week.  Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

juvat

Just a quick update

 Well...First thing's first.  On the "How's She doin?" front,  Mrs. J is prepping today for one of the  favorite examinations for everyone on the face of the planet.  For any reader of this blog not under the age of 10, you're well aware that that's known as a colonoscopy.

Source

In case anyone is still unfamiliar with what a colonoscopy is, ask your self, why is the patient lying on his side, while the Doctor is on the other side and at the other end of the patient's body.  Yes, he's sticking something "in THERE"! 

The following is straight out of the source and describes exactly why Mrs J is getting one tomorrow.

"The purpose of a colonoscopy is to provide a visual diagnosis via inspection of the internal lining of the colon wall, which may include identifying issues such as ulceration or precancerous polyps, and to enable the opportunity for biopsy or the removal of suspected colorectal cancer lesions."  Source.

Now, all that having been said, all the testing and such so far are saying that the cancer is very much under control.  This procedure is intended to take a look and make sure that is true.  Nothing like actually looking at the bastiges than relying solely on tests and such.  

Assuming the best outcome, that will enable the Surgery next week.  There's still a lot of hoops to jump, but all the medicos are smiling.  With a little bit of help from the Big Guy and a smile from the surgeon after the procedure, so will I.

Off to happier adventures.  On the Woodworking front, I'm in the process of making a quilt hanger for one of my Sister's quilts.  This was the sole thing I'm taking of hers.  It has always meant a lot for me.

 

That would be my Parent's wedding photo in the center. Grandparents are in there.  Pictures of us as Kids.  Mrs J and I (back when I had hair and could fly), yep all in there.  

It means a lot to me.  "Things" don't interest me.  This isn't a "Thing", it's a family history book.  I want it displayed and visible to all who pass by.  It'll be hung in the hallway immediately outside of my office. 

Much like Sarge, I'm a very big history addict.  This fits my bill.

So,  I'm putting together a hanger for it.

Nothing really fancy, I don't want to distract from it, but I also don't want to dishonor it either.

It was fairly simple, I ripped a 2 x 4 into two 1 1/2" strips, then ripped out a channel on the strip that will be the back.  This is the load bearing strip so is slightly thicker than the front piece.  The channel will be where the quilt is tucked in.  Then the two pieces will be put together with 4 bolts camouflaged as drawer pulls on the front and the end of the bolt on the outside back.  This will enable the quilt to be taken down and cleaned if needed.

Yes, Beans, it'll be needed.  This is Texas and we live in the middle of a field.  Dust is a factor.

(Just ask my sinuses!)

I've got the first coat of stain on it right now (aka Sunday).  We'll see what additional stain/finish will be needed.  I am looking for a walnut like color.

I like this one. The picture is of the inside of the hangar, I wanted to make sure it wouldn't "act up" and surprise me as it dried.  Seems to be OK.  So a bit of sanding on the outside and a stain coat there, then maybe some gloss to seal it and bring a shine.  Or not!

Fortunately, that's about all I've got this week.  Things, with respect to Mrs J's health, seem to be progressing in the right direction.  We should be getting definitive answers soon and, with a little luck, be done with this bit of bumpy road.  I deeply appreciate all y'all's thoughtful comments as well as prayers.  

Y'all are great!

Peace out!

 

Tyvek, the devil's tape!

 Well to start off on an up note, a week from this Wednesday will be a good day in the juvat household.  Mrs. J will get zapped for the last time on that day.  (Beans, zapped is the official juvat terminology for radiation treatment. It just sits better with me.)  Once we get through that, there's a 30 day R&R period and then surgery mid-June to, hopefully, visually confirm the little buggers are in fact dead and then remove their rotten bodies.

Yeah, it's been a long ride since October.  Looking forward to not visiting medical folks every day.  Not that they haven't been great. No, they've been very supportive, generally upbeat and answering my stupid questions without laughing (too much).  Well done y'all!

But it will be nice for the both of us to go places and visit family and not have to worry if that's just a cold Miss B has or if it's the flu.  It will also be nice to be able to go out to dinner and not have to worry about that issue. And, maybe, just maybe, fall asleep immediately after hitting the bed. Yeah, been a long ride for both of us, and I had the easy part.

But... Thank all y'all for the prayers and kind thoughts throughout.  VERY MUCH APPRECIATED.

Now, on with the post.  One of the sanity enhancers for me over the last few months has been the construction of a Pikler triangle for my middle Grand child.

 This would be a Pikler Triangle. Source

My Mental Picture is a little different. Here's the triangle itself, just the slide still needing construction.

I had a piece of melamine covered particle board left over from a project a couple of years ago.  I decided I'd use that for the slide as shown in the top picture.  LJW had said she didn't want the climbing grips on it, she wanted a slide.  So it is written, so it shall be.

I went into my wood storage loft and found the left over melamine.  It was just about the right dimensions and I'd even covered it with plastic tape to keep the melamine from getting scratched and ruined.

Little did I realize the enormity of that mistake.

I had confided to LJW that I'd have the project finished in a day or so.  That was Monday after my last post. 

I think that's called "hubris", and we all know how that ends.

 In any case, I was on the last step in the plan, so, I pulled my melamine board out of storage, noted that I had preserved it by covering the melamine with Tyvek and patted myself on the back for keeping it looking good.  Put it on my work bench, got out my pocket knife and got ready to pull it off.

I think Tyvek in the original ancient Greek means "Stronger than the gods'.

So, in actuality, I started to TRY to pull it off.  Just wasn't happening.  Knowing that my wonderful wife has lots of concoctions with various powers in the house, I went there and asked her for something to remove tape. 

She recommended Goo Gone which she already had stored in her witchcraft cupboard.  Grabbed it,  went and soaked a smallish area of the Tyvek, went away for a half hour or so to let it work it's magic.  Returned, not much removal improvement.  Reapplied and tried again. This time, I tried that in conjunction with a hot air gun.

Nope!  It wasn't coming off very well, lots of very small pieces coming off, even more left behind.  So, I decided to visit Lowe's and ask my good friends there (who had sold me the Tyvek) what the best way to remove it was.  They huddled for a few moments throwing furtive glances at me over their shoulders.  Came back and recommended Goo Gone.  I told them I had and it didn't work.  They then recommended Goof Off and/or Paint Thinner.  

I bought both.  I also saw a angled scraper and bought it.  Went home and got to work. 3 days worth of about 3 or 4, 2 hour scraping sessions per day with R&R for wrist and Dust Mask/Face shield recovery as well as chemical smell recovery in between. (Yes Beans, the Fan was on and the windows were open).

 I'm now at this point.

Most of the Tape, per se, is gone, but...

As one can see, although the tape is gone, the glue, however, is still remaining.  I'm pretty sure that should Miss B start to slide down it under these circumstances, she's going to get about 6" and come to a screeching stop stuck to the board.

I'm going to give it one more once over with the chemicals to try and remove the glue.  However, IMHO, my sanity is worth more than $50, should that fail, I'm going to buy a new melamine covered particle board and start over.

I'm open to suggestions.  No, Beans, a flamethrower will not be considered a viable option, fun though it may be.

Peace out, y'all.

juvat

Comme Ci, Comme ça * (again)

So... There I was, headed into town, Monday, April 15th, a date that will live in infamy.  For, I am the Family Messenger enroute to the Postal Service Office to send the Family share of the National Debt to the Cesspool on the Potomac.

If you don't understand that nomenclature, well, we can't be friends.

Source (10:45 AM 16 Apr 2024)

I noted that the PO parking lot was a little fuller than usual, although it was noonish, so I assumed they were folks picking up mail for businesses or because it was lunchtime and they had time to do so.  

Silly me, No, virtually everyone there had an envelope of various sizes all addressed to the same Austin address.  Seems like Mrs. J and I weren't the only one's wanting to hang on to their money as long as legally possible.

Yes, short of Christmas Eve, April 15th is probably the busiest Post Office day of the year.  So...One clerk on duty.  By the time I got to the front of the line it extended out the door.  US Gummint at it's finest.

But, because I dislike driving through town, (18 wheelers, pedestrians, and out of town drivers makes a mix that borders on disaster.  Hence, I tend to avoid it when possible) I had, several years ago, discovered a back road that while two lanes, avoids most of the primary traffic ball ups.  It goes through some ranch land and follows a creek with trees, and little traffic! 

What's not to like?

This day, after the spike in BP at the post office, tranquility was high on the "wish for" list.  The Big Guy came through.

That, my Friends, is a Texas Longhorn and, No, I'm not referring to a college football team.

You may notice a few things about these pictures.  One (and the most important one) there is a fence in the picture between them and I.  Two, there are indications in a couple of the pictures, that the pictures were taken from inside the car.  Three, and you'll have to trust me on this, while my foot was on the brake pedal, the car was still running and in gear, just in case.

Magnificent animals, and smart.  They gave me a quick once over glance, determined the threat level was low both in likelihood of some poor action idea as well as low likelihood of my ability to cause harm.  So, they just returned to grazing.  

I'm pretty sure after I left and went around the corner, the herd pulled the vodka martini's and Guinness from camouflaged refrigerators and consumption was resumed.  But, I was happy, and they seemed to enjoy the attention.

Which brings us to the never ending project story.

Dangerously close.  If I knew how to measure, it would be done.  But, NOOOOooo.... I cut the left hand setting bolt about a 1/2" too short.  Ah well, another trip to Lowes.  In addition, LJW approved adding a slide to the project, so, the trip is not a waste.

 THE big event over this past week was the arrival of Little J with his successful escape from Sodom on the Potomac.  He and LJW decided to stay the night in Moscow on the Colorado for some reason or another.  I'm SURE it was to avoid rush hour traffic and had nothing whatsoever to do with not seeing each other for a very long time.

In any case, Mrs J and I had care of Miss B.  It was quite fun and the following morning was pretty interesting in itself.

Who IS this Hairy Guy?

Yep...Initial contact did not go real well,  But, someone came up with an ingenious plan..Give her her mom's phone and have Little J call it.

Because she'd been video chatting with him quite frequently, she recognized the face on the phone.

I wish I'd have been faster on the camera, when she looked up from the phone and saw the same guy on the phone in the same room as her.  A flood of recognition and understanding who was in the room with her.  Dada!

Yeah, a heart warming  moment!

But as you are reading this, he's en route to Honk Honk to finish up there.  He'll be back in the Great State early in June to pick up Wife and Daughter and move to Jolly Old England.  Thank You, Lord!

All is well...

Finally, this was discovered by LJW and sent to me, regarding my post from last Monday and the attitude of some immigrants from out of state and the reaction to that from current residents.  

I don't care who you are...That's funny right there!

* A little of this, a little of that.  Or a Song.  I'd used its title as the title of one of my previous posts, hence again.  This Tune is pretty catchy, among other things.  Might even add a little energy to Sarge's battery.  Hope you feel better soon.

Monday, Monday

Well, Campers, another week in the books.  I don't know about y'all, but I did enjoy Tuna and Sarge's reminiscing posts.  Lot's of pictures and personal history that made them into the men they are.  

'Splains a lot, doesn't it?  (Yes, Beans, we're waiting for your version of the posting subject with bated breath).  But, truthfully, one can read those and see how they got where they are.  

All I can say is "Well done, Gentlemen!"

So, that outta the way, a quick update on the biggest thing in my life right now.  Mrs J will get her next to the last chemo treatment this Friday.  I think she handling it like a trooper, but each one gets a little more difficult to handle and some of the side effects are, well, difficult and not to be discussed in public.  

Her Doctors are pleased with the results so far and we will be transitioning from chemo to radiation mid-March.

Again, Thanks to all y'all for the prayers and the kind words you've posted.  They are very appreciated.  While things are going well, we ain't out of the woods yet, so please continue.

We did get a bit of good news, or at least the starting point of good news, recently.  Little J is, in fact, going to be assigned to Great Britain the summer.  While, not officially approved yet,  the probability of Miss B joining them is starting to look better and better.  

She really is doing well on a lot of developmental fronts.  Her vocabulary is improving daily, and while it's not really quite accurate ("Gog" being her version of a Canine but she does use it on all 6 or ours, so there's progress there).

Again, we're hopeful and prayerful that things will work out.

On the woodworking front, I got The Rev's birthday present finished this past week.  His birthday isn't until mid-April, but it was a fun, yet, challenging project and I wanted extra time in case disaster happened. It didn't, Thank You, Lord! 

No, Beans, he reads this blog, I'm not going to show pictures or give any hints.  At least not until mid-April.

But, since it's done, I've got some time on my hands and, as the adage goes "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop."  I've been researching other project ideas.  

One of which is "Inside Out Ornaments".  This looks like it might be pretty challenging, but since I won't need to produce a product until Christmas, I may (emphasis on "MAY") be able to pull it off

As has been written about before, when my Sister passed, we inherited her 3 dogs, a Golden Retriever and two Great Pyrenees.  That brings our menagerie up to 6 dogs, 2 cats and 2 horses.  Unfortunately, the two GP's, being herding dogs, pretty much think they rule the roost.  The two cats haven't left our bedroom since the GP's moved in in July.  The three oldest dogs, the golden, the dachsund and Transylvanian Wolfhound are pretty much afraid of them.  When they don't act the way the GP's seem to want them to, The GP's bark, snap and have bitten holes in ears.  

I've had blood drawn trying to get them off their target.  2 minutes later, the GP's are meek as lambs.  I've escorted them outside (which has resulted in a bit of bleeding on my part),  and as long as the weather's ok, that's where they stay.  We've put feelers out to some ranchers in the area as our Vet says they are bred specifically for herding and protection of the herd missions.  Hopefully, some solution will present itself.

Please, Lord!

And another Milestone has been reached.

 My 2016 Ford F-150 turned 130K Saturday.  Still running great (Knock on wood).  Think she's a keeper. (Yes, Beans, I know.  It was a straight, flat, country road with no traffic. A scene in one of my groaner movies¹ comes to mind. "...There was no danger...And broke a major rule of engagement..." Mea culpa!)

But, one final bit of good news and the reason this post was written Saturday is MBD, MG and León are coming for a visit.  They should be arriving Sunday afternoon and will be staying for a few days.  Really looking forward to that visit.  Hopefully, it will restore some feeling of normalcy in Mrs J and my life right now.

Other than that...it is what it is and will be what will be.

I leave you with this.  I like their music although they were some pretty screwed up folks back in the day.

Peace out, y'all.

1.  Top Gun, of course. HollyWOOOOD!

I'm back...My Back!

 Well....It's good to be home. It was a LONG, HARD week, but we got a lot accomplished.  Most importantly, we got to spend time with MBD, The Rev, and MG.  All in all, a success.

So, what prompted this trip, juvat?

Well, Beans, since you asked.  Seems there was a football game this past weekend. The Aggies played some inconsequential team from the Southeastern part of the country.  Ala-something, I think.

MBD and The Rev's new home is two blocks from Kyle Field.  Part of their plan to pay for it is to STR (Short Term Rental) it for home football games.  (The Rev's parents live a couple of blocks away and have spare bedrooms for them to stay in.)

Given that this game was not only sold out like virtually all Aggie Home Games, but they were also selling standing only tickets to it.  Capacity is 102,733 so chances of renting their house out are pretty good.  As is the $1k/night rate.  

But, due to a lot of reasons, pregnancy and a job being a couple of them, the refurbishing of the house was almost, but not quite, ready for paying guests.

Hence, the cavalry was called and Mrs. J and I rode to the rescue.

Besides, we got to play with our Grand Daughter.

Yes, Beans, that is the completed Pixlar climbing ladder I'd been working on.  She loves it!

 MBD had a fairly detailed checklist of things to be done and who was to do them .  It was also quite visible and handy to refer to.

My responsibilities are in the lower left.  I thought I was getting off easy with only two tasks.

Silly me!

Just like military job descriptions end, "Other duties as assigned" should have been expected.

As to the first task, Fix Fence.  I had done that a couple of weeks ago.  I'd replaced about 10 cedar staves that had rotted.  Easy peasy.  So I asked the Slave Driver MBD, what needed to be fixed on the fence. She took me outside and showed me where a couple of original staves had come loose.

Now I was pretty sure that I'd checked that area of the fence in my prior visit and all was well, but...Clearly that was no longer the case.  So,  off to Lowes, picked up about 15 staves (there were other places that needed preventative fixing, but I'd run out of time previously) and got to work.  Replaced all the staves that even remotely looked like they needed replacing.

Voila'. Problem Solved!

Not so fast, juvat!  That afternoon, I was notified that T-Dog, (callsign for the Golden Doodle, P-Dog being their other dog) had gotten out through a hole that I had overlooked.  Well, I knew I hadn't overlooked a hole.  But, to preserve peace and harmony with my very pregnant daughter, I went to take a look.

Yes, there was a hole.  There were also a couple of broken parts to the stave on the ground.  I put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and identified the culprit. There were teeth marks in the wood. T-Dog had chewed a hole in the fence.

So, went back to Lowes, picked up more staves and replaced all staves that remotely looked...Tasty.

Yes, Beans, T-Dog growled at me for the next couple of days, but she remained in the back yard.

The next project, Varnish and stain  (I know, should have been Stain and Varnish) the mantle.  Piece of cake,  longest part was waiting for the prior coat to dry.  

So...I'm done with my assigned projects.  Right?

Not so fast, juvat!

Would you add towel racks, robe hooks and hand towel rings to the guest bathroom?

Your wish is my command, my Dear.

It's a panorama shot. No, the towel bar on the left isn't bent.

Focus on the towel ring on the right. Notice there's a hand towel on it.  Well, that is the new ring, the old ring was removed as it wasn't the same style as the new stuff.  And...as is well known in the military, Feces occurs.

The previous mounting plate was bigger than the new one and it's holes were also bigger.  Unfortunately, we are running out of time to fix and repaint since we don't have matching paint. Camouflage netting was required for the short term.

Now, I'm sure that some of you are wondering about the STR issue and "stuff" in their home.  Well, their Master Bath has a very large "extra" closet in it.  So, they plan to load up the stuff they didn't want out in plain sight into this closet.  My job was to install a locking door to the entrance.

I think in prior posts on this house, I mentioned that very little of it was "Square".  This closet entrance was no exception, rather, more like an excellent example of that problem.

However, after 2 days of planing and sanding and carrying the door into the bath and hanging it, closing it to see if it fit, then carrying it back outside and...rinse/repeat more times than I could count (without taking off my shoes and socks, Beans) I was able to take this picture.  

This is my "happy" picture from this trip.

Meanwhile, Mrs J had volunteered for two projects, wallpapering MG's bedroom and constructing the dresser for Grandson #1's room.  Unfortunately, the wallpaper project was taking a bit longer than expected (but turned out looking great!).

Molding will be added between the wallpaper and the paint.

So she asked for some help.  I took over the dresser project.  Having no workbench to work on, this required a lot of bent over, hands and knees. peering into tight places with awkward body twists, positions.  You know, "Par for the course".

But, it turned out fine.

Finally. many of you readers will remember this project (AKA The Bookshelf).

 

 Again, nothing square, nothing attached safely, not pleasing to the eye.

Before

During

I had completed all the renovation works on the project on the last visit.  MBD went ahead and put the finishing touches on it with some spray on texture and paint.

After

I think it turned out well.

But, the trip involved a lot of work, a lot of ladder climbing, lifting and carrying, and other assorted muscle straining physical motions occurred. Hence, this post's title.

Spending time with the family and helping out was well worth it, I just wish I'd invested in Extra Strength Advil before we got there this week.  

I'd be rich.

Indiscriminate Thoughts (or a shotgun approach to blogging*)

 Well, Campers, another week under our belt.  The highlight of the week was that it appears that our Beloved WWII storytelling Scribe has gotten over his funk and started feeding his story starved audience again.  

So...We got that going for us. But... on with the show.

For those readers interested in statistical meteorology,  I read somewhere this week that this summer, our area of Texas had 58 days that reached at least 100 degrees and 20ish that had reached 105 or better. Unfortunately, after a frantic search I could not find that source again.  So, the best I could do is this.

Source

That's Austin and only through the end of August.  We've had several days above 100 in September also.

However...

Things have changed a bit recently.

The sucking sound from the ground absorbing the rainwater was nearly deafening.

A Noah like sign from The Big Guy? Or a sign that Lisa's taking care of watering the lawn at her house?  Who knows?  We'll take any rain we can get and say "Thank You".

Headed into Church yesterday at dawn.  The temperature on my highly accurate truck thermometer read 62^o and 94% humidity.  Significantly cooler than the previous Sunday at the same time with the temp then being in the 90's already.  So yesterday, we had to resort to turning the defroster on after Bambi's family ran in front of me unseen til just short of the last possible moment.  The wipers weren't keeping the condensation off the windshield.

Yes, Beans, it was a touch "sporty".

But the weather has made for some spectacular atmospheric color palettes.

The camera didn't do it complete justice, the reds and pinks were much more vibrant than were captured.

In the "What the heck are you doing to stay busy?" category and as I mentioned last week, we are entering the Birthday/Anniversary/Holiday season around Rancho Juvat.  The last week in October is a critical one for my health. Forgetting it could be "unhealthy".  Not only is Mrs J's Birthday (I think it's her 25th ;-), I could be wrong) that week, but Grand Daughter #1 aka MG has hers also.  Additionally, Grand Son #1 is expected to make his grand entrance that week to top things off. 

So...The transitioning of good lumber into sawdust must occur with great regularity.  MG will be turning two and since she has at least 1/4 Fighter Pilot blood in her (No Beans, I didn't want to do the math on how much of my Dad's blood would be there), she has discovered she likes to be high up on things.

This was discovered when a ladder that had been being used in the living room  (work on the book shelf perhaps) was climbed by MG with out the assistance, or even the knowledge, of her mother.  At that point, MBD requested a Birthday Present that fulfilled that climbing curiosity, but wasn't 7' tall.

Mrs J did some research and found something called a Pikler Triangle. So it is written, so it shall be.

Still needs paint on the legs, but came together pretty well.  Part of the package is a climbing ramp.

This will be that.  Needs a coat of paint and then some half round dowels will be attached horizontally to be grips/steps.  The intent here is to lower the angle of the climb so MG can learn the ins and outs (alternatively ups and downs) at a more sedate pace.  

It's been a fun build.  I only had to trash one leg that the dowel holes were out of alignment with it's partner on.  I got cocky. 

 "I don't need to use a ruler,  I'll just eyeball it."

Good thing pine 2 x 4's are inexpensive.  Gas to go back to Lowe's however....

And to wrap it up.  Sarge and the gang have had several good discussions lately on the blog about whether or not he should retire and what to expect when he does.

I stumbled across the perfect description of the reality of being retired at breakfast yesterday. Presented for your education, all you, still working stiffs, you!

Am I wrong?

Peace out y'all

*A modern day shout out to Blaise Pascal.