Hi Sun Worshipers around the world! Can you believe it? I can't either. Oh, just pick your topic in the previous question. The answer will be the same.
Today is trashy Tuesday - all of you know that. Holiday weekends give us Tuesday Trashers a welcomed day of relief. In our community the Garbage Gestapo allow the commoners, like me, one day postponement of trash pickup. That is great and I love it but what I don't understand is this - If their schedules are so tight and precise that we MUST have the trash at the curb by 7:00 am on normal weeks, just how do they manage to cram 5 days of trash pickup into 4 days? Do supervisors, managers or administrators pitch in and man a truck? I highly doubt that. Do they put in a full 8 hour day for 4 days? Do they pickup on Saturday? I don't know the answer but certainly one of my readers will be able to enlighten me.
I've got to bring you up to date with the bathroom leaky faucet project. You will recall how the the stupid faucet had the audacity to begin dripping. Our resolution was obvious - remodel the entire bathroom. Perfectly logic solution if you had been here and endured all of the twists and turns. I am beginning to hear rumblings, a subtle comment here and there to re-open the bathroom project. It has been suggested that we install a window above the shower/tub. Yeah! Also, Jenny the elder gave us some decorative energy efficient light bulbs for our NEW light fixture. We think they are 40 watt equivalents. They come to full glow over a minute or two. During the warm-up period, the bathroom is eerily semi-dark. Really kind of cool effect but I wouldn't try shaving right then. Not to completely get away from this project, we will be having an electrician come in to change some of the wiring. On and on it goes.
Enough about the toilet room. Last Tuesday, yes after writing the Drivel, I commenced on the next project - the retaining wall from my front of the house to past the back of the house some 30 feet or so. I planned seven rows of blocks with a nice topper to finish the top of the wall. In my minds eye it seemed as though it would be a beautiful improvement to our property. In reality - it really turned out pretty darn good if I say so myself. I finished it mostly on Saturday at 5:00 pm. I haven't looked at it since. Partly because I was pretty much paralyzed, partly because it was a holiday weekend and partly because I was mentally exhausted. You see, I am 66 years old. My current wife, aka Sue, will be 66 June 2. I am fairly fit sort of anyway. Mama is suffering with knee and back problems. Our first hurdle - dig the trench. If I have been told once, I have been told a thousand times - bury the first row. I did it. I also strung a line from point A to point B with stakes placed in between to give me a line to follow. OK, the trench is on me. It took a while and a lot of sweat but got it. Next, you must put at least a 2" bed of sand or pea gravel and tamp it. Also on me. Done. Now to transport the block from the driveway to the side of the house which is approximately 70 feet. Enter my flood survivor 4 wheeled utility cart. Trial and error proved that I would be limited to 12 blocks per load. I tried 18 block once. It pushed me down the side walk past the neighbors before before I could get it stopped by rolling off the side walk while holding onto the handle and jerking the front wheels quickly to the right. That was enough to cause it to turn over. Oh sure, I lost a couple of blocks but more importantly my body required 27 band aids and about 1/2 of a tube of Neosporin. Fortunately, the current wife jumped to my rescue and transported most of the blocks. She got used to the harness I had made for her very well and was a real benefit. She took note of my slight mishap and scaled back on the number of blocks to be transported at one time. I, in the meantime, made a quick trip to Walgreen's to purchase the ginormous box of band aids.
I reasoned that the most important part of building this wall was to get the first row good and level so I spent a lot of time insuring that each block was level and also level with at least 4 feet of others. This took quite a while. Actually, Wednesday into Saturday. As I was working with the base, the current wife began stacking up from the base. She took frequent breaks to rest the back which was very wise. I deliberately took my time hoping the kidlets would take pity and join in the fun for a while. Didn't happen. I think it is amazing how your plans before you start a project like this tends to get modified the further it goes and as you tire. Our wall went from a minimum of 36 feet long to about 27 feet long. Instead of seven rows high it became 5 rows high. Our modifications probably saved me from a physical breakdown of some kind so it was a good modification. Our finished product was a wall where the top row is PERFECTLY level. Looking down it though you can tell I had a little difficulty managing the string line properly. A skill I don't intend to perfect. We still have a little refining to do but the blocks are there. BTW, for sale - unused landscaping blocks. I better hang onto them. Someone may decide I haven't endured enough pain.
This article came to me from some friends. Its origins are unknown at this point but all of us baby boomers who have lived in the 40's, 50's and 60's can relate to this article. Who knew? We were "green" and didn't know it.
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days.
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day. Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, which we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books. But, too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.
We walked up stairs because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then? Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart ass young person... Being a selfish old person, I don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to p**s me off.
I mentioned earlier that the current wife's birthday is Saturday. I am at a loss. I ask and ask repeatedly about what she would like for her birthday. The answer, "Oh, I don't know, I have everything I need." Very honorable and considerate but doesn't solve my problem. What do I get her? You good and well know that on Sunday, I will not be able to do anything right should I not present a gift on Saturday. What to do? The next question is also problematic. Where would you like to go for your birthday meal? In our family, we celebrate birthdays with a meal at a location of the honorees choosing. Please ask for guidance for me the remainder of this week.
I have been so focused with all of this home maintenance stuff, I haven't had much to say about the "Spa". Well, the expansion is done. The pool is complete, indoor track is done, the whirlpool is done. We have had our opening day and it was a great success. For instance, daughter Debby, the younger, and her boys - Barney & Max, the black pugs, came to try out the facilities. Of course, the boys knew we were expanding and have been really curious about what was behind the tarps. I took them around showing them this and that before I knew it, Barney was chasing Max around the track. Barney playfully nips at Max's back legs. Max covers up to protect his back legs by assuming what I call the "butt scoot" position. He lowers the rear end, uncurls his tail and wraps it underneath to protect his "privates" and runs at full throttle or scoot. He really is amazing at this. He never losses a step. Later, Debby introduced the boys to the pool. Max went first. She held onto him, his head at her shoulder and tail end near her waist. Oh yes, his front legs were wrapped tightly around her neck. Into the pool they go. Max is rigid. It is like he has been stuffed. She dips his rear and then a little more until he is about half submerged. OK, he has had enough and onto solid ground he goes. Barney on the other hand wants nothing to do with water. She takes him in the pool lowers him into the water and releases him. He frantically dog paddles straight for the edge of the pool and searches for a way out. Debby takes him out. He has had enough of that thing. Both Max and Barney I can see feel that water is best used to satisfy a thirst and that is it.
Kinnick, daughter Jenny's yellow Lab, is 180 degrees different. They came to the opening also. Kinnick came prancing into the area clutching his favorite toy in his mouth. At the sight of the pool, he looked up at Jenny, toy hanging from his mouth and raised eyebrows asking to go in. She takes the toy, tosses it into the pool and off goes Kinnick. A nice running jump into the pool, grab the toy, find the ladder, and climbs out ready for the next toss. This is repeated 2 or three times. Next, Kinnick with take a breather making sure he gets close to you then shakes. He likes to involve everyone in his enjoyment.
Enough, Enough, Enough. I can hear the phone calls now. "Dude, why do you persist in boring me to death with this Drivel?" My response, "Press 1 for Spanish, Press 2 for English. This call may be recorded to insure quality control." "Click!" Now to all a good night. The Drivel has left the room. TA!
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