Ok, I can't believe it.


I've actually got a small book of poetry for sale on Amazon, look for Rhyme Not Reason if you are interested.
It's heck when something like this happens and you've got no one to tell.
Ok, the three or four people I've been in contact have email from me already.

Anyway just thought I'd let the rest of you in on it.


Blessed be....

Four, ok maybe five, weeks later

It's still in the garage, it must be mine.
Two year lease, then a buyout.  This is it, I think, my last car.

As Teddy Roosevelt once said...

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin," Roosevelt wrote.

"But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American," he added.

 "There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all.

 "We have room for but one flag, the American flag ... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language ... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

 The original document -- with the correct date, not 1907 -- can be found at the Theodore Roosevelt Center here.

 Nor was it the only time Roosevelt expressed these beliefs, as Snopes noted:

 "Let us say to the immigrant not that we hope he will learn English, but that he has got to learn it," he said in 1916.

 "Let the immigrant who does not learn it go back. He has got to consider the interest of the United States, or he should not stay here. He must be made to see that his opportunities in this country depend upon his knowing English and observing American standards. The employer cannot be permitted to regard him only as an industrial asset."

Sam


Dancing stars again the sky reminding me of days gone by
Wind stripped leaves amongst the trees show the way
Dreams of you across the grass watching carefully
Makes me wonder why you ever went away

Loved your laugh, listened for the shrieks
As the furby reappeared behind the sheets
Life was harder then before, then it is now
Makes me wonder why I let you get away.

Time goes on, days go by
Seems the answers still are questions though we try
Everyday, once again
To make sense of whatever happened then

Saw you there, though you did not see me.
Caught you doing something that you shouldn’t be.
Tried to show you, what was right.
Don’t think you’ve really spoken to me since that night.

Time goes on, days go by
Seems the answers still are questions by and by
One day soon, we’ll make amends
If only the world doesn’t end by then.

Happy Birthday

Yep, again.
Know you don't care.  
Know that I do, always have and always will.

Blessed be.

It's official 



The Van is dead.  I'll be trying to find someone to haul it off this weekend.
Six to eight weeks from now I'll be driving a Jeep.



God willing and the creek don't rise.

Wow

Van's battery is officially dead.  Not sure I want to put another one in.  I'm not going out anyway so it really doesn't matter.
Worked myself up to doing the stairs twice a day.  High point of the last two weeks, I made it up walking almost normally.
Haven't been able to do it again yet.
Down to 199lbs and I feel like a weeble.  Have to fight to stand up straight and boy does my neck and shoulders complain when I do.
Needless to say I haven't made any progress on the yard, basement or anywhere else for that matter.

Despite all that Christmas went well and I'm visiting my cardiologist for New Years Eve.
I'm slowly improving, more of a two steps forward one step back kind but it's still moving forward.
Friends have helped a lot, one in particular has been doing my shopping, helping with my laundry and all I have to do is cook.

Here's hoping your song is a better one.
Blessed be....

Ouch

Only thing that compares to the pain of full body edema is the Lasix pill and its side effects.

Oh Lord, dropped 40 lbs  in 7 days. Diet consists of water, sometimes juice and chicken broth.  If I'm lucky I get 10 noodles to go in it. Don't even want more than one bowl a day.  Yep, I losing about a pound a day.
This last week I've actually added more noodles and hamburger to the menu.  I stopped the lasix about a week ago and find I'm starting to stabilize.

Haven't been able to do anything around the house.  Standing and actually walking around is kind of amazing.  Doing a lot of time shuffling, er, um, I've got a walker after September 22, around to have blood drawn and consult with my doctors.
No one has a clue yet.  I'm going back next Wednesday to see if I need to go back on the Lasix pills.  Using the stairs for physical therapy.  The routine goes,
1) text a friend to let them know I'm starting
2) walk down 4 steps
3) turn around
4) walk up 4 steps
5) Text that friend to let them know I've finished

Yep it's that bad. Even I'm worried I'm going to take a header down the stairs.  At this point I think it'd take me a couple of hours to get back up them.
Hell, I was laying down in pain for the better part of two months, it's going to take a while to recover.

Hope life is treating you well and that you're happy and healthy.
Bessed be....

End of September already!

Can't believe it.  Summer skipped past, like an egg on a slide on a 100 degree day.

Most projects got finished or polished up this year.  Yard cleaned up real nice, the garden expanded a bit.  Cucumbers and tomatoes mostly and they were wonderful.  Lost the willow tree down by the lake to storm damage, had the tree service take care of the pine and a cedar by the garage for safety reasons.

Solar performance improved now that there is less shade, but really died off early this month.  Gonna have to look into that one before winter.

Health has been really bad.  Got hit with edema that the doctors can't pin point a cause for.  Laid me up for the month of august and I'm just starting to recover now.  Major rethinking around house plans for the future.   New, more comfortable bar stools, bed and recliner are in the plans.  If I do go another story I'lll be looking into an elevator as well.  Yep, the edema was that bad.  Haven't been in that much pain since the botched nasal surgery.

Oh well. Hope as usual life finds you happy and safe.
Blessed be...

Wow

Where'd it go?
August 4th already.
Cucumbers are doing great.  Planted the long ones only this year, got them started on the trellis and moved the tomato plants to the firepit planter. The tomatoes aren't happy about that but I'm getting a couple of cucumbers a day now and do they taste great. Green bean crop got raided by somebunny early on and while it has recovered it is a little behind in bean production.  What I'm harvesting is great, quantity is starting to catch up.

Next up the tree folks are supposed to schedule soon.  I'm having them take down the first cedar because of ant damage.  The fallen wall is glued back up and looks better than ever.
For the first time in a couple of years every stair is glued tight, ouch.. except down by the lake, that'll be next year.
Uninterruptable power supply/solar project is a success.  Looks like I'm saving about $100.00 a month, which means in about 25 years the project will have paid for itself. At least it would if I don't expand it to 32 panels and four batteries.
Sill looking for a builder.

Three years now since my last hospital visit.  While I'm not getting a lot done I can still get some things completed.  Pacing myself isn't easy and weight control is an issue.  If I can't be working I like to be cooking, luck would have it I've got a couple of friends that keep my mind off eating on bad days.

Hope your world is still a happy one.
Blessed be...

Wow

Time flies like arrow, fruit flies like banana.
Can't believe it's June already.
Solar power is wonderful.  Nine panels, ~3.6kWh, can power the house but it needs the full power of the Sun to do it.  Batteries are necessary because of clouds, shade and bird ..um..err.. excrement.
Remember to clean off your solar panels every once in a while.  The sol-ark 15kWh has work flawlessly since January. I haven't noticed if we've had a power outage yet. I am hoping for an outage that lasts a couple of days so I can see how the system performs.  Short outages don't blink the lights, the clocks or the computers.

Still trying to get the hang of the water softener.  Outside water is still turning the landscaping treated posts white.  Not sure if it's calcium or salt yet.
Surrendered the fire pit to the garden, it is now a tomato planter.
Our thornless blackberry bush is producing berries this year and the white seedless grape vine by the lake has reached the top of its trellis.

Looking for a contractor to price a second story for the house.  One that doesn't start with "Once upon a time".

I'm widening the pathway from the road to the pavers, hopefully it'll be done by next weekend.  Also looking to create a parking area across the street.

Stayed out of the hospital again this last year, although weight is still a concern.  Takes about 15 hours to get 8 hours of sleep and when working I'm only good for 1 or 2 hours.
Trying to get the computers upgraded so I can get this website fully functional again.  Ah, but it all takes time.

Hope you're happy and healthy.
That life is not just another four letter word.
Be safe and know that you are loved.

Blessed be...

Will wonders never cease?



The second battery gets installed today.
Yesterday the new water softener was finally installed and the old one removed.
The 6x6's across the street are half de-nailed and stacked.
And a lot of the chaos in the basement has been shipped off to Goodwill.

Been an interesting couple of months.
Health wise I'm doing a bit better, weight is high but I'm still staying out of the hospital.
Projects are slowing calming down and finishing up.

It looks like this year the raised bed garden will be reworked, hopefully into a year round greenhouse.
The side wall and the lake side wall stairs are on the to-be-fixed list.
The backyard sprinklers are due for a redesign because of increased pressure and range.
Looks like a decorative roadside wall for across the street may be the big project this year.

Be safe, know you're loved.
Blessed be...

Happy Birthday!

While you probably won't believe this, you're the only reason this site exists.
Don't know if you ever stop by but in case you do I update when I can to let you know how things are.
Today I'm hoping you're safe and happy, ready for what the new year brings.

As we move into spring the solar array makes more sense. 
More and more the battery is being charged during the day and less grid energy is needed.
Still haven't seen the full potential yet, however I'm confident we might actually get there.

Doctors appointments in two weeks to find out how the last year went.
While I stayed out of emergency again, making the weight loss goals has been difficult.
Breathing issues are paramount but other issues are near the surface.

House is coming together.  With the electrical project 75% wrapped up the water project has begun.
The major equipment has been purchased and hopefully installation will be completed this coming week.

Peace, love and happiness.
Blessed be...

Finally...

Ok, well almost.
Everything should be finished on Wednesday.
Did a power outage test yesterday and it mostly passed.  I mean I turned off the big switch and nothing in the house noticed.
Of course the generator didn't start by itself so in about four hours, the battery was at 50% when I started, I'd have lost power.
Second test went better but the Sol-Ark toggled the generator a couple of dozen times in a couple of minutes right around the batteries 50% mark.
I've sent a note to support about it, we'll see how they explain it.

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad.
Yeah, I know it's  my birthday but they'd have remembered it much better than I ever would.
And since they're the ones that did all the hard work they deserve the Honorable mention.
65 years now, I can hardly believe it.

Computer upgrades are in the plans for January/February.  I had moved into Intel NUC series machines a year or so back but still had a couple of 12+ year old towers. By the end of February they'll be replaced by a pair of NUC 12. Quite an upgrade from the Atari Meg4 I started with.  From 1 core cpu with 4M of memory and 800M of disk space to a 12 core cpu with 65G of memory and multiple 8Tb solid state NMVe.  Who'd have thought?  Sad thing is the cost was about the same.

We've got security camera's now, ok more like I wana look out the back window but I don't want to leave my kitchen computer cameras but hey.
Health is stable, no emergency room visits last year.
Van is slowly dieing, this is probably its last winter.
And yes, I'm going to tackle the plumbing, probably contract out the rest of the electrical work and plan an actual dock/deck for this summer.

As usual hope this finds you safe and happy.
Blessed be...

And we're still not there yet.



So everything's inspected and looking pretty in the electrical project.
Service goes to a disconnect switch and then into the Sol-Ark inverter, generator ties in there too along with a Fortress eVault max battery.
System uses the battery until the battery reaches 50% and then it supplements from the grid if there isn't enough solar power coming in.
Along about 7pm if the battery isn't at 100% it'll use the grid to bring it up to that and hold it there until 1am when it uses the battery until it hits 50% again.
In the event of a grid outage the generac generator does the supplement and charging job.

Unfortunately we made a mistake when it came to panel mounting hardware, twice.  So three of nine panels are up, parts are ordered and hopefully the other six will go up next week.

Health as been not so good.  Stress is messing with me big time and sleep is something I remember doing when I was younger.
House cleaning has helped.  Getting rid of a bunch of old UPSes and obsolete computer equipment while finding treasures is kind of fun.

Water project is up next.  New reverse osmosis unit and storage tank, new iron filter and new water softener.  
After that I'm buying an electrician to get rid of the old panel in the garage and bring more of my wiring up to code.

Hope everything is well with you Sam.
Hope you're happy and well loved.
You're in my heart and on my mind constantly.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year folks.
Blessed be...

LOL


Just read the May entry again today.
What a laugh.  The water project got put on hold and I started the whole house battery project.
It has been a wild ride but it looks like we're finally in the home stretch. With any luck the electrical work will be finished up on Monday Dec 11 and inspected.

I ended up with a Sol-Ark 15k hybrid inverter and a Fortress eVault max 18.5kW battery.
We connected my current Generac 20kW natural gas generator and with any luck down the road nine solar panels.
The inverter, generator and battery appear to be playing well with each other. 

The water project is still on the horizon, but stable power won over drinking water this time.
More as I figure things out.

Blessed be...

Garden is planted.


In addition to our own contender green bean seeds and green pepper seeds we planted cucumbers, carrots, lettuce and sugar snap peas from seed.
Sprouted most of them indoors and they seem to be doing fine.
This year we also added a seedless green grape and a blackberry bush just for fun.

Repair work on the side yard wall has started. Seems the problem was self made, the wall was built tilted out towards the yard which helped it separate.
I'm taking down to the first row to fix that and hopefully will be done sometime in Junee or early July.

This month will see the water conditioning equipment replaced along with a new constant pressure pump.
I'm also looking at the cost of adding an inverter with battery to act as a whole house UPS, maybe even adding a solar panel or two too.
Plans for a house addition are evolving.

Health-wise, well, doc says maybe steriods are the only answer, as we've found I'm allergic to almost every other treatment.
Currently looking for that sweet spot that lets me lose weight, not feel like I'm starving and not sleeping all the time.

Hoping the world finds you safe and happy.
Blessed be...

Spring is here!

OK, well almost.  Woke up to a white lawn again today but by 11am it was all good again.

Basement wall is gone.  I'm starting to rearrange things down there with hopes of getting rid of stuff I've not seen in years.

Health is pretty good.  Can't work for long periods but I can still work.
All in all, not much to complain about.

Hoping life is treating you well.

Blessed be

Happy Birthday Sam.



Monday it starts.  They're taking out the basement wall, opening it up to the back hallway.
Then the upstairs floor renovation can begin.  Nervous as a cat.

Survived the winter without any emergency room visits.

Planning is underway for a deck/dock and this years garden.
Wall repairs are scheduled for this summer but probably no new walls until next year.

May this year bring more happiness.
Blessed be...

Happy New Year


Wow.  February before I knew it.
Beginning of major changes here.  Finally got a good contractor and, at the end of the month, we're removing the old basement foundation wall.
That'll open up the middle room to the lakeside outer wall.  Once the dust has settled I'm finally going to fix the living room floor.
Dream begins on 2/27, we'll see how it goes.

Hoping last summers new wall survives the winter.
Sam's birthday is coming up soon; wishing her the best.

So far so good, no emergency visits since 10/2022.  Still trying to find a new drug.  Dr. and I don't see eye to eye on his latest.

Looking forward to spring.
Blessed be.

Merry Christmas...



Boy howdy did we get it this year.
White Christmas for sure and below zero to boot.

This year is looking a lot better than the last one.  Healthwise I've got options I didn't have.
Steriod supply should last me thru till spring, let's hope it keeps me out of emergency.

Looking forward to construction this spring.

Hoping you and yours have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Blessed be....

Ok, so wizard of OZ hasn't played.
Turkey hasn't been eaten yet.
and there's no snow on the ground but....
 

Looks like my medication has been messing with drug test results.
Nephrologist says my kidneys might not be as bad as they thought they were.
Cardiologist says my heart is strong and unless the pulmonogist doesn't think the chest tightness is due to lungs my heart is probably healthy.
Blood pressure remains high and my weight's not so good.   Working on it though, set a target of 170ish and hope to get there in a couple of years.

Made a salsa verde from green tomatos.  Wow...  now, at least, we know what to do with the late tomatoes. 
Mexican cooking certainly goes up a notch with fresh, home grown vegetables.

Having a foundation company come out and evaluate the house foundation.  Hoping to put a second story on in places.

Here's hoping you're healthy and happy.
Blessed be...

Covid-19 appears to be done with me.
Still have a bit of a cough, but my new pulmonologist has me well supplied with steriods.
Since testing positive I think I've has a low fever twice. Damned glad I never got vaccinated.

Harvested my first ever carrot. At least it mostly looked like a carrot.  Light orange and about 4 and a half inches long, two inches in diameter at the greens; it skinnyed down fast.
Still it tasted good.  Actually got iceberg lettuce too.   Of course it didn't quite ball up the way it's supposed too but it didn't go to seed like two years ago either.
Broke off leafs from the stem, grabbed one of my  early girl tomatos and made a salad for dinner last night.   There's just something about growing your own....

Last things on the agenda for this year are fixing loose capstones.  The tree removal was hard on my wall in that area and broke some of them loose.
I'm adding a wall block border to the garage path as well.

Looks like I might have talked me into doing a dock next year, in addition to fixing my first curved wall and attempting to build a block moongate.
A fountain stream may also be in next years plan but that's gonna take a LOT of wana.

Take care out there amongst those english....
Blessed be...

Covid-19 hit on 8/30/2022.
Spent a night in the hospital but have not really had any remarkable symptoms.
I've been very lucky so far.

Consumers Power caught up with me this year and made me do some tree clean up.
As a result the three trees in front of the bay window have been taken down, giving me a really clear view of the woods across the street.
Don't know if the squirrels will ever forgive me.

Amazing...
Simply amazing



Got more done than I expected to this spring/summer. 
The garden is wonderful.  Added the new "big D" portion the new improved retaining wall provided to the garden and planted cilantro, sunflowers, radishes, lettuce and carrots.
Not a whole lot of any just a few plants of each.
Unfortunately I took a fall trying to move a 200lb foundation block.  At the time it was quite funny, the block falling towards me as I fell backwards trying to dodge it.
Now a month later I still have back and knee pain.  Oh well getting that beast out of, what became, the middle of the garden was worth it.

Breathing issues remain been waiting a month now for my pulmonologist to get my Fasenra perscription set up. Don't have a lot of taith in that doctors office.
They seem to be more set up to bill patients than to treat them.

Yard looks wonderful. Life is good despite the set backs.
Hope you're doing at least as well.

Blessed be...

2022 Landscaping

Can't believe it. After all this time the "replace the retaining wall" project is in the absolute final phase.  200 bags-o-dirt, more blocks than I care to count and oh-so-many Tylenol.

Survived the first visit to the pulmonologist.
We'll see if we survive the second.
Basement project is well underway.

Looks like spring has officially come to Michigan.
Over the next couple of weeks we'll be preparing the garden and cleaning up the yard.
Getting smarter this year, purchased a food saver vacuum sealer so that we can have garden stuff for more than just the summer.
Hoping to have the back wall done by the end of May, wall done and backfilled.
The laundry room project has expanded into the back hall.  Pictures should be up by the end of the month.

Robins are back again this year and this winter we were actually raided by a beaver.
Seems he was fond of my baby cedar tree and decided to take it home with him.

Blessed be...

New doctor looks like a keeper so far.
Friends are starting to retire.
Hopefully the Indian Winter is over.

Well, I'm trying a new Pulmonologist on 3/29/2022. We'll see how this one does.  My new doctor recommended him, not sure if that's good or bad.
Breathing has been consistent all winter, mostly bad. Five or so trips to emergency and one overnight at the hospital tell me it's not all in my head.
Last doctor seemed to think it was, I dropped him on my way out of my appointment.
Express Scripts, for all that they are associated with Blue Cross Network, seems to be a place to avoid.  Their price comparisions usually show them as cheaper, however they don't always seem to compare apples to apples.  I tried to use their service but had to cancel everything, ended up getting the wrong medication anyway and had to fight for the better part of three weeks to get it resolved.

Been working on the web site a lot.  Think I have most of my short stories/poems/nonsense updated.
Also working on remodeling the basement hallway.  New flooring goes in next, then cabinets over the washer and dryer. Changed out the doors for pocket doors and the area looks so much better.  Using Dri-core panels on the floor as a base for the new flooring to minimize any water problems.  We'll  see how it goes.
Next step is to get a structural engineer out to get some advice.  The house is officially paid for so it's getting time to make some changes.

Hope spring finds you all well and happy.
Lady watch over us all.
Blessed be...

Happy Birthday Sam!

Hope you're well and all is good.
Wishing you the very best on this day of days.

Blessed be...

Been a rough winter.
Up side is that I've worked more on Leopards-den.
Down side, well I've got more weight to  lose.

House is finally paid for, looks like I'm finally going to get out of debt.
I'm not really sure how I feel about that.  I mean after all the creditors were always keeping track of me, making sure I was alright.
Makes you feel like you're wanted, especially if you're not carrying life insurance.

Monday I try yet another new doctor.  Hopefully this one lasts longer than the single appointment the last three did.
The generalist I'm looking for, an old style small town family doctor, just doesn't seem to exist anymore.

Looking forward to spring.  This summers projects include finishing the new retaining wall tier and back filling it with dirt and getting the old 6x6 lumber up out of the backyard.
There's even a slight possibility of a deck/dock down by the lake if things go well.
For the house I'm looking for a structural engineer to give it a once over.  Possibilities include raising the structure 18 inches or so, maybe a second story.
This summer is going to mark the start of change.

Two days before Sam's birthday.  She's been on my mind a lot lately.  I'm hoping she's doing well.
I've been writing up a storm, don't know if anyone will ever read or enjoy the stories.  Doesn't really matter the writing has been fun.
Take care out there amongst those English.
Blessed be....

Happy New Year!
Ok, 14 days late but...
Happy Birthday!

63 Years ago today I met my Mother and my Father.  Two of the absolute best people in the world.
They care for and charished me for many years, teaching me how to be me.
I happen to think they did a pretty good job.

That's what my birthday is all about, Dorothy and Clifford Paul Nash.
Hell, I don't even remember it, but they always have.
So Thanks Mom and Dad, for everything.

Blessed be...

So here we are.
The year is almost over.
Survived another one.


Didn't finish as much as I'd hoped to over the summer, however I did get a lot mostly finished.
Next year will see the end of the retaining wall project and the beginning of the wood's wall project.
Fountain didn't happen although it is still on the radar.

Don't know if you look here Sam, just want you to know if you're ever in over your head; I'm here, as I've always been.

Well, Merry Christmas all and a Happy New Year.

 

Oh my....
Guess I didn't realize how long it's been.   Summer has come and gone.


Still working on replacing the wall by the lake.  I am in the last half segment and the first dry fit of the wall is almost done.
Making it pretty and permanent will have to wait until next year.

Been in and out of the hospital too many times.  Looking into starting Fasenra this year to see if that helps.

Almost have the house paid for, once that's done planning for a second story is next.
Basement has gotten a work over and I've added a pergola with lights to the back deck.

Pictures next time, if I can decide on which set.
Be safe in this crazy world.

Blessed be.....

Did it again...
Ended up in emergency because I couldn't breathe. 
Folks there thought I should spend the night in the hospital, I didn't argue.

It was the second time in three months, same symptom, same problem.
Doesn't appear to be getting any worse but it's also not getting any better.

Hopefully I can still get the retaining wall finished this year.
The garden is doing well, green beans (Contender) are producing like crazy, with my boston pickling cucumbers coming in second.
New trellis is up but I haven't had a chance to setup the drip irrigation this year.
Luckily we've had enough wonder weather, warm and rainy to take care of everything.

Blessed be...

Garden is in.  Yard is looking good.
6x6 retaining wall by the lake is almost replaced with wall block.
That's the project for this year, finishing the wall and hopefully back filling it.

Got pocket doors in the basement and put a ceiling in the hall.
Next the basement bathroom and then renovate the upstairs bathroom.

Health isn't so good. However I've got a new pulmonologist so we'll see how that goes.

looking forward to the rest of Summer.
Blessed be.

Happy Birthday Sam...  
Yep, I know it's a day early.

 

Finally did it.
1/31/2021 I deleted my facebook account.  I can be found at MeWe
Facebook became too draconian for me, censoring people when they shouldn't be, judging people they shouldn't be.
MeWe has a better policy.

Second month of the new year, 62 years old now and not doing so bad.
House is almost paid off, van still runs and life is still both interesting and fun.
Still miss my daughter, though she'll never understand that.  Hopefully she at least has closure.
I tried to get in touch, found I was facing too much anger so I let her go.
Love her more than anything but her memory of our time together and mine don't match enough for common ground.

House is getting some renovations this summer.  Redoing the bathrooms due to leaks caused by bad tile work after the fire.
Good news is it'll let me finish off the basement ceiling in a better style than before.
This will be the year I have an engineer check out the basic structure to find out what else I can do.

Trails have been cut across the street and are in desperate need to fixing.
Storms have taken down a few trees in inconvenient spots so the trails will have to be rerouted.
I'm considering getting a drone to map the trails and allow me to document/map them.
This year may see a stone wall on the road side.

Also looking at possible getting a hobie tandem islander for lake fun.
May have to build a home for it and a deck/dock first, we'll see.

Stay safe in these uncertain times.
Blessed be...

ok..ok..  So finish the patio comes before build a wall.
Who'd have thought so many little projects would rise up in the middle of the night, just because you'd like to get the big project done before it snows.
All the pieces are here it's a matter getting a whole lot of wana next door to my round toit. That being said the patio is now all laid out, needs a little tweaking to seal off the end. It does seem to be creaping towards the firepit faster than I had given it credit but I think I can stall that until next summer.

Health wise I'm doing better.  Hurt my shoulder, go figure, but the folks at orthoMichigan have helped out alot.
Pain is no longer a constant companion, just drops by to spend the night.
Good days I get in four hours of work before 10am and call it a day. On really good days it rains, I pick green beans and have an indoor picnic.

FYI, just in case I forget, I started Leopards log as a demonstration tool for a friend of mine that was told  "it can't be done, you have to use xxx". After a wonderful bout of laughter I explained to my friend that there is very little in the world of computing that can't be accomplished at home with a little patience. Unfortunately I didn't know where to stop, hey, I'm a systems programmer not a web dude so the idea of coordinated content went right out the window. Fortunately this site, being run in a virtual machine in my kitchen was more than enough for the demo and was interesting enough for me to keep around.
Now I post a note or two when I get the urge, like today, and let thoughts and ideas hemorrage out of my head onto the web.

Found out my cousin Carl and Izzy are alive and mostly well.  
Hoping to have them out for a picnic kind of time when this covid-19 crap chills.

And while trying to do more clean up from the Fire, yep after seven years I'm still trying to get organized,  I found an old OST file on a usb stick. Wonder of wonders what could this be I asked.  Well an OST file is an offline office mail-ish kind of thing and with a little bit of luck I was able to copy the contents back where I could use them again. Know what I found, Samantha's old email address from her UofM days.  Figured that'd be useless, she's been out of UofM for a while now but in digging thru the archive I also found a gmail address. What the hell says I, why not give it a try.   I had noticed in the last note I had sent her back in 2011 I had given her a list of my email addresses in use at the time. At the very least it was time for an update, so I sent off a note with my website address and my current email address.
Have to admit I was a bit worried.  I check out her facebook profile every once in a while and the last time I had looked, while there hadn't been any new posts, some of the profile information was now missing or protected. Never did find out which it was, but Samantha did reply to my note.  Nice to know she's alive and well. I wish her the best.

Got a facebook message from my cousin Jerry too.
Seems my Aunt Mary Jane isn't doing so well.  She was always one of my favorites. I wish my health and the pandemic weren't between us at this point.

Fireworks war on the lake for the fourth of July.
Don't know if this is the hottest one on record but I think we're getting close.
The house and yard are really starting to come together.  I'm not sure if my original plan to change from a fortytwo inch 6x6 timber retaining wall to a pair twentyfour inch 5x8 concrete block wall is going to survive. I might just end up doing a one for one replacement.  luckily I've got enough block on hand to go either direction.  The side yard wall separating the neighbors cedar trees from my water garden should be down over the next two weeks.

Stay healthy and safe, but not too safe
Blessed be....
 

Stay at home they said.   As if I'd been doing anything different for the last eight years.
Michigan has been under a shelter at home order now for a while.  Covid-19, the latest coronavirus is kicking the countries butt.
At least that's what they'd have you believe.
Current evidence suggests while the infection rate is fast and furious the mortality rate isn't as bad as they thought.

Turns out the virus we're seeing probably came ashore in San Fransisco around about Nov/Dec 2019.
We're still finding out how many people were infected back then and while people have died it wasn't bad enough to warrant a good investigation.

Makes one think that if we'd have let it go we might be over this already.

Covid-19 is a world wide problem.  So am I a bit worried for my daughter.
Here's hoping where ever she is she's safe.

Despite being high risk I'm doing well.  Just ordered the 33,000 lbs of wall block I need to replace the back yard retaining wall.
Some time in the next week or so I'll be getting 10 pallets of concrete formed into free standing wall blocks, some 4x4's and 60 bags of paver base.

Summers project?  build the wall.

Blessed be....

Boy Howdy!
A year ago I had tried to purchase a gas log set for the fireplace.
Had the money, found a place in Rochester; hell actually paid them to do it. However the deal fell thru in a very bad way.
Totally lost faith that any contractors were trustworthy and buried my head in the sand for about a year.

Tried again and today I have a Peterson Woodland Oak G46 gas log set installed by Konieczka Heating and Cooling.

The guys that came out were great, listened to me and did a wonderful job.
Everything, gas logs, furnace, water heater all worked when they were done.
The fire logs are just wonderful.
I can't believe it took so long to do.  The fire is so peaceful and so much easier than the fake fire logs or real wood  I used to burn.

Thank you
Blessed be....

Been retired just about 6 years now.
Finally crawled mostly out of the pile of debt school, two divorces, two totalled vehicles, a house fire and several trees falling down on the house brought on.
Health is surprisingly well considering.
All in all things are really not all that bad.  Which is probably why I took the revelation that my daughter was now married so well.

Hey, you know it's going to happen.  Your cub grows up, meets someone and starts the circle of life all over again.
I guess I just thought she'd have been in touch before it actually happened.
Found out quite a while ago that time passes different for me than for most folk.  I tend not to notice the passage of weeks, months sometimes even years.
I made it a habit to delete the friend request I put out on facebook for her and reissue it to bring it back into her attention; guess I shouldn't have bothered.
Her latest status update added a Father to her profile and made note of the fact that she was now married.
Interesting that the gentleman she married hasn't changed his relationship status but I guess that's just a man thing.

Also interesting is the Father she listed is neither her stepfather nor her birth father.  Go figure.
Personally, if one of my neighbors hadn't brought the whole thing up, I would have thought it was just a Halloween thing.

So long as she's happy and safe, that's all that has ever mattered.
Blessed be....

And surgery for both eyes is over.  I can fully recommend Dr. Rohr.  I've never had surgery that didn't make me afraid to ever go back.
Dr. Rohr and his staff as well as the staff at the Surgery Center in Health Park made the procedures friendly and painless.
Absolutely no doubt in my mind that they always had my best interests at heart.

So I can finally see again.  I'm still on very light duty while my eyes heal and I'll need glasses to read.
Things are beginning to look up....

Back in 2006 or so I tossed in the towel and threw away my glasses.  Dr. Rohr corrected my vision via Laser and boy howdy I couldn't have been happier.
For the first time ever in my life I was able to see clearly without classes.  He even corrected the astigmatism in my right eye which basically meant the world didn't tilt so much.
Over time my vision start to get bad again.  The change was so slight that I didn't really notice it and silly me, I didn't have my eyes checked until January of this year (2017).
The long and the short of it, my vision was, once again, as bad as it was before I had Lasik.  This time the culprit was cataracts.  Both eyes are affected, the net result being I'm pretty much legally blind.
4/19 that starts to change.  I'm going in for surgery on my right eye.   They'll cut a small slit, break up the old lens with a ultrasonic vaccum and suck it out. Using the same slit a new manmade lens is inserted.  They tell me I should be able to see clear in a day or so.  Next month the same procedure will be done to the left eye and everything should be right with the world again.
To say I'm scared or worried would be a major understatement.  The procedure is pretty much routine and my Doctor is beyond excelent.  That much is the only thing getting me to go in.
Life won't be business as usual until sometime in June.  I have to avoid straining, sneezing or scratching my eyes out.  At this point it's all good because I have no clue what I'll be going thru.

Just in case you didn't notice....  Over in the categories list, under my picture, is a category called latest.
Selecting that will list everything I've posted with the most current one on top.