Music Post

 

Hot again yesterday - not quite as bad as it was the previous few days, but not the kind of day an old cardiac patient should be doing much outside during the heat of the day. I did make it out on the bike early and put in six miles, though. I spent the rest of the day reading and watching television. The morning and afternoon shows were the usual programing - cowboys and cooking shows. Later in the day it became 250th celebrations and another rainstorm. I wasn't too impressed with the ABC affiliates programming, but the PBS show from Colonial Williamsburg was quite good. The Big Cheese from Williamsburg did a short speech tying the founders and the Declaration to what we should be doing now. I'm a big fan of history, but as they say, if you don't learn from history, you're doomed to repeat it, or words to that effect. 

The music above has a vague tie-in to yesterday's celebration, but mostly I picked them because I like them. The blog is my start page when I log in, and I'll usually play a tune or two before I check my regular spots every morning. I good tune is always a great start to the day.  

Cooler weather is forecast for the upcoming few days, so I'll be looking to get some things accomplished before it heats up again. The days are flying by now. Lots of work to do in the shop but with the rain and the heat there'll be lots of yardwork to do as well. No rest for the wicked.  

250 Years

 

Garden

 

"Knee high by the 4th of July" - that's from the days before the hybrid varieties hit the fields. This is the corn in the front field. I took the photo a couple of days ago and it has grown a couple of inches since. It's about 5 feet tall now, meaning we're pretty much isolated here being surrounded by trees or corn and humidity. The corn being the main culprit. I worked in the garden a bit last evening and it didn't take long before I was dripping with sweat.

Speaking of which, the tomatoes, peppers and cukes are doing well. The corn and peas have taken a hit from the rabbits and/or deer. The corn is an ornamental variety that I planted on a whim from an ear I had picked two years ago. It sprouted right quick like but mostly disappeared shortly thereafter. I'm going to replant it but I doubt if it will have time to reach to maturity. The peas have a fairly short time to maturity, so I should be OK there, as long as the wildlife stays away. However, the place is lousy with rabbits this year, but the grocery store always has peas in both the frozen food department and in the canned goods aisle.

Nothing much going on otherwise - just life as I know it. It'll be cooling down this coming week, so I'll be able to resume project work both in the shop and yard work.

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Since it's the 250th anniversary of our country, you might want to watch the movie about our founding by Hillsdale College. The Missus and I went to the theatre to see it, but now it's available on You Tube.

Also, since we're talking movies, I watched This Land is Mine yesterday on TCM. The movie stars Charles Laughton as a meek school teacher living in a Nazi occupied country who is put on trial for a murder he didn't commit. I couldn't find the complete movie but I did find an audio version. If you click on the link, skip ahead to 44 minutes and you can hear Laughton addressing the court. It's not as powerful a speech as it was with the video, and it loses quite a bit of the forcefulness without the set-up, but it's quite relevant to what's happening today just the same. If you get a chance to see the whole movie, I'd suggest you do so. 

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Wishing you and America a very happy 4th of July. 

Things Are Heating Up

 

My two coaching buddies and I went walkies on Sunday. One of them lives about 20 miles south of me, the other the same only north. We normally meet in the park by me but this time we went north to a recently remodeled park in the town where I lived before moving to the farm. It's a beautiful little city park with a paved walking path and trails through the woods. Unfortunately, the wooded trails were too muddy due to all of the recent rains and storms.

The Missus and I went to the grandson's open house on Saturday. Nice party and the kid is already gainfully employed in an apprenticeship program. While there the Missus' sister handed off a piece for her windmill that's needing repair again. A branch came down on it during the last round of storms that passed through. 

She was fortunate in that that was all of the damage at her place. A tornado went through not far from her place. Lots of tornado damage all around me this year. Houses, barns, cars - gone with the wind. I feel bad for those poor souls. Everything you own just gone. 

And now, we're looking at ninety-degree heat with heat indices over 100 for the remainder of the week. My plan is to get out early for my bike ride, do a little something outdoors or in the shop later in the day and then hide in the AC during the mid-day heat.

  

The Wait

 

I took my dog Larry to the vet yesterday. The clinic doesn't usually take appointments, so it's first come, first served after the lunch break. Larry and I had a long wait - I left the house about 1:30 and didn't get home until 5:15. Larry showed his displeasure of having had to wait by peeing on the examination room floor while waiting for the vet. However, while waiting I ran into someone I hadn't seen in years. Her father and my father were high school classmates. Her father had a dairy farm and my father would pheasant hunt his farm every Thanksgiving. We had a nice time reminiscing on "the Group W bench".

The financial seminar in the morning was pretty informative. Some of the facts and figures were taken from the Government, so I always question those, but I think he was telling us in a roundabout way to expect a market correction. I don't doubt but there's one on the way, no telling when, though. He mentioned data centers, one of them being scheduled just minutes away from our meeting place, in spite of the public's very strong vote against it. Social Security was also brought up. The latest figure bandied about is 2032 as the year our checks get a 22% haircut. I didn't see any smiling faces in the room full of retirees on that note.

Once again, since I'm a welder not a financial advisor, you do what's best for you, but betting on a government that's $40 trillion in debt sounds like a sucker's bet to me.  

What's Goin' On

Here's a bit of a run-down of the current events. 

Sunday, Surly and the clan came down and brought me a holster he had made for my pistol.

And it's a beaut! Cowhide on the outside and pigskin on the inside. Fits the pistol like a glove. He's really getting good with his leatherwork.

Monday, I took the Missus to the foot doctor since she was still in a lot of pain from her recent fall. Seems the emergency room visit didn't detect the broken bone in the foot, so now she's got one of those Frankenstein boots and a few pain killers. 

Tuesday, I went to the doctor for a checkup. Everything is looking good - blood pressure, A1c and whatever he heard while listening to my heart and lungs. Pretty happy with the results - I'm getting back on the program like I was on years ago. If I had stayed with it probably wouldn't have had the plugged up stent. 

Also, the medical alert device showed up for the Missus. She ordered it from Consumer Cellular, which is our phone carrier. I'm going to feel a lot better knowing the device has a fall alert function and the button to push for 24/7/365 help if needed. When you set the thing up you can put in names and numbers of people you want notified besides them making the call to emergency medical services. 

Wednesday, policed the dog park, mowed some grass, and got the new air cleaner in the mail.

It got here rather quickly considering it came from China. It fits the carb nicely, came with a clamp and the angle is perfect. One step closer to being finished.

Today, I'm going to a meeting with the financial guy in the morning. He puts on seminars about four times during the summer months. They're informative but he always seems to be a little more upbeat than what I am as far as the market goes. The numbers are continuing to go up, but I'm at the age if there's a big market correction, I might not be around long enough to recover. I'm not all that concerned since most of my gains are all on paper and as long as I pay my property tax I won't have to be living in a cardboard box under the bridge.

I'll be taking the dog to the vet in the afternoon. Between the two of them, that'll pretty much shoot the day in the ass.

Tomorrow, I'm going to be helping set up the radio equipment for the ham radio Field Day. I was planning on taking my teardrop trailer and camping Saturday night, but I need to stay home and help the Missus out. 

So, things rather slow on the projects for the next few weeks and the weatherman is forecasting temps in the nineties for next week. That in itself will slow me down but I'll keep pickin' away at things indoors and out. Never a shortage of things to do.
  

Father's Day

 

From Here

I really like that door - actually I'm a big fan of most anything from the Art Nouveau era. 

 The door to my shop is more Arts and Crafts. I made it at the high school with a little help from the Wood Shop Instructor. The boards are ship lapped and glued together, however, one of the glue joints let go over the winter and I've got a board sticking out along the bottom. I need to figure out the best way to pull it back in and keep it there. Just one more thing to add to the list.

Sort of busy day yesterday. Went for my bike ride in the morning, ate breakfast while watching an Audie Murphy movie. Did some more trimming on some bushes, sprayed some weeds, sharpened some knives, broke down some cardboard boxes, and a couple of other piddly things in the shop and in the shack. Nothing to write home about, but I kept my feet moving for the better part of the day.

The lilies are starting to bloom. I need to give the flower bed a bit of attention - pull a few weeds and plant another lily to fill in a gap. One of the nice things about day lilies is they require very little maintenance and add a nice splash of color when blooming.

Father's Day today, of course. I'm going to take a bike ride in the morning and maybe do a few things outdoors before the rain comes in. 

Happy Father's Day to all you Daddy-Os out there. Enjoy your day and keep on pushin'. It's a big responsibility. Do your best for your children and the rest of us as well.