Visited With Some Friends Today

Made a stop at Scullee's place this morning, picked up some beautiful canes and bowls and had a chance to sit and talk for a while with Scullee, George and Fred (George's wife, short for Fredia).

I'm just amazed at what Scullee and George can do with a piece of wood, I ordered a dozen more canes, they'll be ready by the time I come back through here in August.

Saw a huge moose and some elk this afternoon, still a lot of snow on the ground too.

I had quite an experience on the flight Sunday but just haven't had time to write about it yet, I'll catch up early next week.

Headed to bed early tonight, got about 700 miles to do tomorrow.

735 Miles Yesterday

Long day yesterday, got snowed on three times.

Headed out to Scullee's this morning and up to the Alaska Highway in the afternoon.

Later.

Northbound

Spent four days with Bo, Brandi, Bryan and the grandkids, worked a little on the house, rode the 4-wheelers and now it's time to head north.

I'll be leaving Sunday morning for Fairbanks.

Buffett Was Fantastic

Spent the day with a few thousand Parrot Heads at Lakewood, had a blast and I have the headache to prove it.

Gotta go lie down again.

Things That Bug Me

With all the rain we have had in the past two weeks, it's no surprise that we have seen a couple of "Palmetto Bugs" in the house. I have sprayed every room and all around the outside of the house but they still find a way to get in.

Saturday was a very busy day, I left home at 8 am headed to Athens and had gotten almost to I-75 near Jackson when my phone rang. It was Julie letting me know that my wallet and money was lying on the table. I would have discovered it anyway in five more minutes when I stopped for gas, there was nothing I could do except turn around and drive back home. It should have been an omen.

After walking around Sanford Stadium several times, taking over 250 pictures, attending the press conference, eating at both the Blind Pig and The Varsity, it was time to make the drive back to Thomaston.

It was late when I got in and I was still too hyped up to go to sleep so I downloaded all the pictures and worked on them until 2 am. It must have been closer to three before I finally went to sleep and everything was fine until around 6 am.

Just before daylight, I felt something run up my right leg. It woke me up in a hurry and I immediately took a swing at whatever it was.

I had no idea that I had been sleeping on my arm long enough for my right hand to go completely numb. If felt like I was swinging someone else's arm and it totally disrupted my aim, I hit myself squarely in the groin hard enough to nearly knock me completely out of the bed. As I doubled up in pain, I felt whatever it was run underneath my backside.

That was all it took, I have never jumped so high and so far out of a bed from a prone position in my life. I don't know who I scared the most, Julie or the bug. I still couldn't control my right arm and had to get back to the head of the bed to take another swat at the thing with my left one, by then Julie was headed out the back door.

I finally got the thing killed and in the dust pan. As I made my way to the back door to throw it out, I picked up the truck keys just in case I had to go up the street and bring Julie back. Luckily she had only made it to the mailbox and could still hear me.

Orkin will be here before noon.

Tangled With A Toilet

I guess we all reach a point in life where it's smarter to pay someone to do a small chore than it is to attempt it ourselves.

After my three day ordeal with the water heater, the next thing on the list was to replace a leaking supply valve on the toilet, not a technically difficult thing to do. They are really simple to replace if you can get two hands on them. Remember though that the valve was located and installed by the same builder that put the water heater in a closet with a door too small to get it out and needless to say, it was impossible to just neal down and remove it.

This valve cost $2.89 and is about the size of an egg, not a major piece of hardware.

I tried every position possible to get both wrenches on the thing, my shoulders would not fit between the vanity and the bowl. I reached around the bowl, hugging it, with my face pressed against the tank and could put them on it but I couldn't turn it. I finally had to lie down on my side, wedging myself between the tank and the vanity with my arms over my head to get to it.

Well as it turned out, getting the valve off wasn't the biggest problem.

I had managed to get curled around the bowl enough to get the leverage I needed to remove it but discovered that not having my shoes on was a huge mistake. The tile floor was so slippery, my socks would not give me any grip and with my arms over my head, I had no way of getting out of this predicament.

After several minutes of evaluating my options, it was pretty clear that I was going to need some help. The best decision I made all day was to take care of this little project while I was not alone in the house. I finally yelled to Julie that I needed a hand, knowing full well what her first reaction was going to be as she entered the bathroom.

After she had time to collect herself and dry the tears in her eyes from all the laughter, she helped pull me out of the narrow little space that I had become so familiar with.

The toilet flushes now and it's not leaking so far, but I have an entirely different bond with it today.

Dancing With A Hot Water Heater

The little chore of replacing a worn out water heater turned into a major undertaking.

The house was built thirty years ago following a fire and the builder placed the water heater in a small hall closet. The location was not where I would have recommended since it is at the opposite end of the house from the kitchen but that was not the real problem. The door to the closet is 17 inches wide and the old water heater was 19 inches wide, it wouldn't come out.

I had to tear out all of the door frame and facing to get the darn thing out, then I had to replumb the new one since it was a different size. All of that took five trips to Home Depot to get supplies or tools, Mark in the plumbing department thinks that I'm building an entire subdivision. I just wonder what went through the builders mind when he framed in around the water heater and had to know that it wouldn't come out of there.

At least it did last for 30 years before the bottom rusted out.

We do have hot water now but I still have to rebuild the door. That's going to take at least 4 more Piggy Park Bar-B-Que deluxes to accomplish.

Great Soup & Cornbread

Spent Sunday evening with Kim and Keith watching the CMA award show, the Zac Brown Band won the top new group award but came up a little short for the top new artist award, it was won by Julianne Hough. The band was featured several times on the GAC special before the show started and they picked up a gold record this week for Chicken Fried so it was still a good week for them.

Kim cooked some of the best vegetable soup, corn bread and hot chicken bites that I have ever had, she is a good cook and I really enjoy visiting with them. Bully was glad to see us too.

Tomorrow's chore is putting in a new hot water heater, it will probably take all day and the weather forecast is for a high in the mid 50's with a low near 32, might even see a little snow tomorrow night. Not a good day to be crawling underneath a house working on water lines.

Smoke On The Water

Everything got started around 4 this afternoon, it was a muddy mess getting in. Cars and trucks stuck in the mud everywhere, the most popular person there was the guy with the tractor and chain. The smell of bar-b-que could be detected in the air for more than a mile.

We walked around checking out some of the vendors and began bumping into a lot of old friends, some that I had not seen in many years. Spent an hour with Ricky and Kathy Tucker eating some great bar-b-que, cole slaw and the best brunswick stew that I have tasted outside of 8112 South Lagoon Drive. Ricky made the stew and he had a special bar-b-que sauce that he made with peaches that just may be the best I've ever had. David Britt, Tom Daniel, Tim Turner and Bo Waldrop all showed up about the time I finished and we spent another hour laughing and talking.

Barney and Janice Bowles were there and we are all hoping that Coy and the band win the CMA award Sunday night for Best New Artist.

The rest of our gang showed up late but in time to hear Conner Christian and his band play, it got pretty cold by the time they had finished and we left.

Tomorrow we try some more bar-b-que and dress a little better for the weather.

Finally Got Out Of The Recliner

Had my first biopsy on Tuesday morning, won't know anything for a couple of weeks though.

Smoke On The Water starts tomorrow, good music and bar-b-que, I'll get up for that.

Guess it's pretty easy to see that there's not much going on right now.