Trashy Tuesday

Once again it is Tuesday and trash day.  Once again I foiled the trash police but just barely.  The last container hit the curb at exactly 7:00 am.  I overshot my mark a little. The container went over the curb, falling over in the process.  As luck would have it, I fell over the container.  Utilizing my superior athleticism and conditioning, I bounced right back up, doing kind of a somersault in the process. My rabbit fur hat went flying.  On my feet again, I quickly scanned the neighborhood to see if I had been seen.  I don't think anyone saw me fortunately.  MS next door didn't have hers out until after 7:00.  I thought I saw her crouching down and pushing a bag in front of her to the curb.  I don't think she was caught thankfully.ll

Drivel 1:
Any idea how many noodles there are in a regular sized can of Campbell's Chicken & Noodle Soup? Ponder it for a while.

We are into the 4th full day of the dogs - Kinnick plus 2.  Routines are being established finally. The weekend was a lost cause.  Couldn't sleep, couldn't sit down without 2 pugs in my lap. Good ole Kinnick just stayed out of the way.  What a cool dog.  I posted several pictures on facebook from my blackberry. Here is what a lap full of pugs looks like when they are drifting off into lala land. From left to right we have Max, stuffed monkey, Barney, and stuffed something.  They snuggle with these and suckle on them. 

I caught Kinnick after a day at the Puppy Day Care.  He goes twice a week and loves it. Notice the full leg extension and the appearance of total relaxation. Sorry for the blurry picture.

My current wife, Sue, has stepped up to help with the puppy sitting duties.  She has the pugs sleep with her in the spare bedroom.  After the first night, it seems they are working out sleeping assignments.  It certainly makes it so much easier for me since I have Kinnick who is not a problem.  This allows me to be the lead during the day.  Sue manufactured the perfect ruse to get a new coat for Christmas.  She hung her Iowa Hawkeye winter coat on a chair in the dining room.  Somehow she managed to entice Barney into peeing on her coat.  The next morning, feigning surprise, ignorance and mock outrage declared it must be time to get a new coat.  No, I didn't call her on it.  I just shrugged my shoulders and began hunting for her Christmas present.  Poor Barney, he took the heat without a fuss. Goes to show you how a 7 year old handles such things.

Drivel 2:

Did you know that when you reach the age of 40, your feet grow a half size every decade thereafter?  Just a little known fact.

Planning continues on the over 70 domino league.  This is more of a challenge than I thought.  A few issues have cropped up that have delayed the start of our league.  One, I have to find some dominoes with raised braille dots for those with vision impairment.  We are also searching for some over sized dominoes that are more easily read.  We are going to have to supply some volunteers who can move the dominoes for those with severe arthritis. Another issue is getting certified by the US Domino Association (USDA)? Hurdle after hurdle are being thrown at us.  The most frustrating is the continual confusion with the US Dept of Agriculture. They don't know anything about dominoes.  So far we have successfully provided everything asked for.  This would be a great association because we could enter an all-star team in regional and national tournaments.  We will keep you posted. 

Does anyone know why I persist in living in this state? I have gone through 64 winters here and hate them more and more each year.  It is not like I am not free to go somewhere where the weather is more moderate in the winter.  What on earth makes me stay here?  Searching for the answer to this question usually consumes my first cup of French Roast each morning. 

We received our first measurable snowfall last Saturday morning.  We got about an inch or so. No big deal.  I saw this as an opportunity to test out my new-to-me snow blower.  You may remember I inherited this big 2 stage blower from my current wife's favorite aunt.  It is about 15 years old but looks like new.  It had not been started in 14 years though.  When I got it home, I took it to my local guy to refresh.  Cost me $90.00.  Not bad I thought.  So here I am out on the driveway with my big bad blower.  Choke on - check; throttle on high - check; push primer bulb 5 times - check.  Okay, pull the starter rope, again, again, again - nothing.  Okay, lets push the primer bulb some more.  Pull the starter repeatedly - nothing.  Repeat the process - nothing.  At this point my farmer brain kicks in and says - "dude, you have flooded the engine." With my head hung low and looking around to see if any of the neighbors had noticed, I pushed it back in the garage.  At this point I realized that I had not turned the ignition to the "on" position. Arghhhh!  I got out my old 2 stage El Toro snow thrower I got off of Craig's list.  I thought it was a Toro snow blower.  Didn't read close enough.  It is an aluminum snow shovel - brand name: El Toro. The 2 stages are scoop and toss.  I got the driveway done. My neighbor MS had her blower out and running.  She volunteered to blow the sidewalk so she could test it out.  That just added insult to injury.  I mumbled something like "Great, Thanks a lot" and scurried into the house to not be seen the rest of the day. 

The French Roast is all gone now so I'd best close for today. By the way, there are 216 noodles in Campbell's Chicken and Noodle Soup.  Dazzle your friends with that bit of Drivel.  TA!