Sunday, November 23, 2008

Our Adventures in Florida - Part 2 - The Best Part

On Monday morning, we walked the boys to school and Pete drove Anne and I to Miami Beach. The South part is called South Beach where everyone is on a diet. At least the people are not as obese as some of those we saw at Disney World. Some people are really fat. I don't know how or if or why they get on any of the rides. One guy had on a red shirt that said "Im big. You're small." He was too. I like these kind of people. Whenever I'm around them, I feel slender.

I didn't see any of these fat people on South Beach which is why the girls don't mind sunbathing topless. That's ok and only fair. Men sunbathe topless all the time.

From Miami Beach we drove to Miami. We had to drive around to find a place to park, but we found a lot in which you pay at a machine and get a receipt to place on your dash. It costs $2.00 an hour, but there is a minimum of three hours or $6.00. The machine got an extra dollar out of me and wouldn't give it back.

We looked at the boats in the port and had lunch at a Cuban restaurant outside overlooking the "Spirit of Miami" which is a tall sailing ship, although not all that tall. Pete and I had cubanos, Cuban sandwiches with chicken, ham, melted cheese and pickles on cuban bread. Anne had a steak sandwich. Pete had a beer, Anne a pina colada and I had a mojito - rum, crushed mint leaves, sugar and lime juice. Roxanne later reminded me that I had one of those in Bahrain at the Blue Elephant. I remember the restaurant, but not the drink. The one I had in Miami was good.

At one point something wet landed on Peter's shoulder. I asked the waiter for an extra napkin, but he didn't understand my version of English so he summoned our waitress. I explained to both that we thought that a bird had done its business on Pete's shoulder, but that now we thought it was only water. Shortly, the waiter arrived with three glasses of water. Anne asked for a box to take the rest of her sandwich. I said she should take the rest of her drink too. The sandwiches cost $7.95 apiece. The pina colada and the mojito each cost $8.95.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008. The boys were off from school today and we had Roxanne back from her trip to New Jersey, so we decided to drive to Fort Lauderdale beach. When we got there it was cloudy, windy and the yellow and purple flags were flying. The yellow means moderate hazard and Anthony explained that the purple meant dangerous marine life. In this case it was man of war jelly fish. P:ete decided that, rather tan pay for parking, we sould drive a ways down Alligator Alley (Route I75). We stopped at a couple of viewing spots and did see a few alligators. One small one even swam back and forth in front of us for a while.

We then headed for the pool at the complex where Roxanne and Peter live. It is a heated pool, or so it usually is. On the door to the clubhouse was posted a sign that the main pool was closed until further notice because one pump motor was broken. We ascertained that the kiddy pool and the jacuzzi were working so we went in.

We weren't there very long when the swimming coach told us that we could go in the pool since they had one motor working. We could feel warm water entering and it felt nice. It was soon discovered that the heater required two motors, so it was shut down so they could use the one motor to run the filter.

Wednesday. In the wee hours of the morning Roxanne drove Pete to the airport for his return trip to Haiti. He expects to return around December 3rd.  At a more respectable hour we walked Anthony and Alex to Lakeside school where teachers and aides greet the children and even open car doors for them. It was a nice atmosphere. Roxanne drove Anne and I to Hollywood Beach. Red flags were flying and we thought that we could not go swimming. However, Anne, who loves to in the water, read the flag explanations. Red with a white stripe means the beach is closed. Red means that it is merely hazardous. So, undeterred, Anne went up into the lifeguard hut to ask. The lifeguard told her that it was all right to go in and that he would be watching. We found a place to sit in the shade of some palm trees and Anne went into the azure, roiling surf; I followed. There were many breakers that came close together and we had to jump or dive into many of them. They weren't the knock you on your ear kind of breakers we have in New Jersey - not as powerful - and there wasn't a strong rip so it wasn't difficult to get in or out. We walked along the beach; no one was topless, and then Anne went back in for some more wave jumping before we drove home.

Thursday, November 13, 2008. Today we are at the pool. It is warm with a breeze, some clouds and a little humid. There are three of us and maybe three other people here right now. [ I know I'm switching tense, but I'm copying from my notebook, don't really care, but these things can be fixed when I write the screen play.]

Pete had explained that in this area, Pembroke Pines, Miami, Miami Beach, there is a heavy Latin/Cuban influence, or culture whereas on the west coast of Florida there is more of a southern culture. We noticed that when we visited our friends, Bob and Rosemary near Port St. Richie in the Tarpon Springs area. Also, the highways seem to be more plentiful and busier in the Miami area.

We haven't gotten to the Keys and won't try on this trip. It is a three hour drive to Key West, so it seems like that would call for an overnight stay or two to fully appreciate it. We'll do that another time. We do plan to come back in May or June, possibly driving instead of flying. We wouldn't drive straight through, but would plan an overnight stop or two seeing sights along the way. At this point the mode of travel is only in the concept stage. I also thought that a nice retirement present for us might be a trip to Haiti.

Relaxing is not something that I'm not very good at doing. By relaxing I mean, for example, sitting by a pool reading or just staring into space. Today I did both and also swam in the pool. It is a beautiful day - a day that would be acceptable just about anywhere. Instead of staring into space though, I am enjoying looking at palm leaves moving in the breeze.

The boys are home from school now with their school pictures and report cards. Both did well. Anthony made the Honor Roll with straight As and got the Principal's Certificate for extra effort. Alex is in second grade where they use a different marking system. He did very well too and is working at or above grade level. Both boys like school and are eager to go each day.

I can understand why people are attracted to living in South Florida, especially at this time of year. November has very pleasant weather.

Friday, November 14, 2008. Fort Lauderdale Beach. Yellow and purple flags today. The lifeguard told Anne that only a few jellyfish had been spotted and that he didn't think there was any real danger, so into the foaming brine we waded. The surf was a little less turbulent than yesterday. I had stubbed the big toe on my left foot in the surf on Tuesday and while it was somewhat swollen and stiff, today it seems to be improving. Jumping around in the waves with my feet bouncing off the bottom aggravates it, but that didn't keep me from following Anne into the waves twice. The weather is beautiful, warm, a little breeze and sunny.

I want a boat again, but this time a big boat. I have been reading "Hemingway on Fishing" and the most captivating parts are when he writes about deep sea fishing. It always seems that there are several people along plus a crew, with his then wife, Mary even steering the boat, Pilar. Of course, you would need a crew of two, preferably, but at least one, just to pilot a boat for that kind of fishing.

If I had a big boat I would like to keep it in Florida or Puerto Rico where it is warm and where I could use it all year. That would mean we would have to move there. If we became snow birds and came down in the winter, we would need two boats, or, we would need to take the one boat down with us. I know that some people do that, but I don't know how long it takes, or what it all costs, or how big a boat you need to do that, or anything.

Just the idea of getting a big boat seems daunting. Not only is there the cost of the boat, there is the considerable cost of keeping it somewhere. I will be retiring and will have the time, but I don't know about the money. It might be more clever by far to stop reading about deep sea fishing and to become enthralled with books about fly fishing in New Jersey streams. With the money saved by not buying a big boat, we could go out on a deep sea charter a number of times, yet somehow, it doesn't seem quite the same. [ After we got home, I decided that I don't want a big boat anymore. Anne will be pleased.]

I didn't do very well at relaxing today at Fort Lauderdale Beach. There were more people there, but I don't think that was the problem. Yesterday, we were sitting in the shade of palm trees, today in the shade of a life guard hut. I was still reading Hemingway, so what was different? The beach in Fort Lauderdale is right next to the sidewalk and street. There is a short wall that doesn't prevent looking across the street to shops, eateries and big hotels on the other side. Traffic noise is evident, maybe more so because we were sitting pretty close to the street. The beach is not as broad as Miami Beach. Hollywood beach is bordered by a boardwalk and then there are some houses, I think, or maybe businesses in attractive buildings. Another part has a wooded picnic area, but no street runs by.

Also, at Fort Lauderdale, a beach rake towed by a John Deere tractor meandered past three or four times, contra relaxing. The the Christians came. First, there were three young high school or college students with an adult who asked Anne and Roxanne if they would take a short four question survey about their spiritual life. They wanted to know if their spiritual life was better now than five years ago and did they know that they were going to heaven. Anne hoped she was going, but didn't say she knew positively, so she now became someone in need of conversion. Anne cut off the conversation and the Christians were polite and went off to survey other sunbathers. I had remained sitting and they didn't question me. About a half hour later, another group came form the opposite direction and asked if I would take a survey about my spiritual life. I could truthfully say that we just had a group here asking the same thing. They apologized and walked away. I wonder if they survey the sunbathers at South Beach.

Saturday, November 15, 2008. Today we are back at Hollywood Beach. It started raining as we were driving here and we wondered what the weather was really going to be since the forecast was for a nice day. It turned out to be pleasant, but breeze with a few stray showers.

Ammy (Anne) and Anthony have been in the water almost the entire time. I went in, but again hurt my already sore toe when I was swimming in the surf and the shallow bottom came up and I hit my toe on it several times. You can walk out quite a way here and still be able to stand. The tide is going out now and it looks like you could walk half way to the horizon.

In the afternoon some more people came to the beach. A couple with two teen age girls came and sat right in front of us even though there was an immense amount of room on the beach and started hugging and kissing. I said to Roxanne how amazing it was that they would sit right there on a mainly unoccupied beach. They heard me say it and looked at me and I looked right back. I hope they will think a little more the next time, but I don't know.

That's all I wrote in my journal. I have to add that Roxanne was a wonderful and gracious hostess. She made us feel more than welcome. We both had a great time visiting with her and with Anthony and Alex. The boys were fun to be with and we hope to see all of them again before long. Our flight back to Newark was delayed for about an hour, but our actual arrival time was only about one half hour late. We had parked our car at an off airport lot. When we retrieved our luggage, we came out and were able to get right on the bus for the lot. We got home in very little time and were thankful for a very nice visit with a great family.  


Saturday, November 22, 2008

Our Adventures in Florida - Part 1

The New Jersey State Bar Association had its Mid-Year convention at Disney World this year. I like bars, so we went. The convention hotel was the Boardwalk which is within an easy stroll of Epcot, but pretty inconvenient for everything else. There is a boat that takes you to Hollywood Studios and for everything else you take a bus, which is not an express. It stops at several other hotels along the way. A continental breakfast was included this year. The last time the Bar stayed at Disney it was at the Grand Floridian, which was more convenient for getting around, but the food there cost a small fortune.

Our first park was the Magic Kingdom. We visited "it's a small world," the Haunted Mansion, Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tom Sawyer Island, Mickey's PhilharMagic, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Carousel of Progress and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. Whew! For some reason the Disney engineers must think that kids like a lot of noise because there was plenty of it. Some of the rides would be scary for small children.

The next day we boarded the bus for the Animal Kingdom. There we saw It's tough to be a Bug 3D movie. It sounds innocent enough, but, again, small children may find it frightening. We also went on the Kilimanjaro Safari which takes you into an area where there are real live african animals in a natural habitat. We saw Flights of Wonder where real exotic birds fly around and do some tricks and we took a train ride to Rafiti's Planet Watch which is an educational experience in which you can learn about animals and even watch an animal being examined or an operation, if one is taking place. Anne want on Dinosaur which is a jouncy ride that gave dire warnings about people with high blood pressure not going on. She said I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it.

It is interesting that they have some 1,500 or so animals at Disney World and they bring every single one of them inside at night for care, feeding and a safe place to sleep. Each species of animal responds to a certain pitch of sound, the elephants to rattling chains, and when they hear the noise, they know it is time to come in. there are massive barns where the animals are housed at night. Each one is examined, cleaned and fed.

After a shortened day at the Animal Kingdom we took a bus ride back to our hotel and then another bus ride to Blizzard Beach, a water park made to look like a ski slope and winter playground. We floated around a river on tubes, tried a wave pool and Anne went on a water slide.

On our third day we decided to forego the pleasure of the endless bus rides and we took a short walk to Epcot. There we experienced Soarin, a sort of IMax movie in which you are in a moving seat and really feel like you are soaring. We took a boat ride through Living with the Land, which is an experimental agricultural exhibit where you witness innovative techniques for growing everything from bananas to tomatoes. We also saw, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy Adventure in which the whole audience moves through dinosaur territory. We then boarded a clam shell for The Seas with Nemo and Friends. 

We then had lunch at the Tangierine Cafe at the Morocco pavilion. It was then time to return to the Norway exhibit for the Maelstrom ride. We had gotten Fast Passes which assign you a certain time to return if you don't want to stand in a long line. I guess we were about half way through when the darn thing stopped dead in the water (it was a boat ride). An automated voice came out of load speakers saying the there was an unexpected interruption and that a cast member would be with us shortly. We heard that an annoying number of time over perhaps a time span of 10 minutes when, what to our wondering eyes should appear, but two cast members who put a platform between our boat and the catwalk so that we could be rescued. I took a picture of folks from another boat being saved. We were given a fast pass for three rides in Epcot that we would have to use before the end of the year.

Saturday night, Peter, Anthony and Alex joined us at the hotel for dinner. We watched some magicians and fire works from Epcot.

On Sunday Peter and the boys met us at the hotel and we all took the boat to Hollywood Studios and made straight for Toy Story Midway Mania which had a long line early on. We got fast passes, but they were to return between two and three in the afternoon. Peter was hoping to get on the road before that because it is a three hour drive back to Pembroke Pines. We stood in line for perhaps one half hour for the show. We went to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular where are very own Anthony wound up on stage. We saw the Muppet Vision 3D Movie, the kids played in the Honey I shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure and Anne and I took The Great Movie Ride  through classic film scenes. Everyone but me went on Star Tours, some sort of flight simulator that gave more dire warnings about people with high blood pressure. Anne said it wouldn't have bothered me. Oh well. A little after 2:00 p.m., the boys were getting tired and so were we. We knew we had to take the boat back to the hotel and then walk to the car, so we decided to head out. First, Anne had the idea to give our four Fast Passes to someone at the end of the Toy Story line. I had forgotten all about them. We made one family very happy. Anne and I decided that, this being our fifth trip to Disney World, we probably had enough to last us at least fifty years. Maybe we'll go back to celebrate my 110th birthday.


Saturday, November 1, 2008

Magazines, Newspapers & the Internet

We counted up how many magazines that come through the door at our house and came up with 12, not counting two that come as the result of membership in AARP and AAA. Oh, that also doesn't include about four more I get as the result of being a member of the American Bar Association and the New Jersey State Bar Association. By my standards, at least, that's a lot of magazines. We also discovered that some of them are pricey. I recently had a conversation with our youngest son and discovered that he subscribes to none at all except what he gets as the result of his membership in one or two organizations. He and his spouse get most of their information from the internet, I guess.

Many magazines and newspapers have online versions. For example, we get the New York Times delivered to my office. I like to browse the paper when I'm eating lunch, but I also get the online version which is free and has most of the stories in which I am interested. I haven't done a study to find how mush of the paper isn't on line, but I know that a whole lot of it is and you can even search for past articles. You can even subscribe to a book review that comes weekly or more often. Newspapers have been experiencing a drop in readership which means a drop in paid subscriptions or people buying a single copy. I think that you can subscribe to online versions of most major newspapers and many minor ones, all for free. It is not surprising to me that many of us choose to get our information on the internet these days. It's simple to do and there is information on any subject you can think about. In fact there is sometimes too much information and you can not always be confident that it is accurate. I suppose that can also be said of print media, but at least in that case, you know the source since all of those that I have seen put their name right smack dab on the front of the publication. On the internet everyone can be an expert and I have to say, there are a lot of wacky folks running around out there. But if you are careful about your source, you can find just about anything on the world wide web.

So I've carried on for two whole paragraphs; what will I do about all of those magazines? If I'm honest with myself, I will acknowledge that I usually don't read any of them completely. There are maybe a couple of articles that I read at most, in each. Not enough to justify the mailman lugging them all here and then me lugging them all out for recycling. At least I don't have to do anything. Since I haven't signed up for automatic renewal [ I hope I haven't done that], I'll just have to deal with the renewal notices that I'll receive for the rest of my life.

Monday, October 13, 2008

A Nice Weekend

On Saturday, we walked on the boardwalk in Point Pleasant with our long time friends, Betty & Ray and Jackie & Rocky. After working up an appetite, we all had dinner at The Wharfside to celebrate Betty & Ray's 50th wedding anniversary. It was a very pleasant time spent with good friends. We are now planning a trip to Alaska for next year.

On Sunday we drove to Leo & Kristen's home near Hawley, PA for a delicious bar-b-q. Also joining us were Chris, Adrian, Katie, Stephen, Patti, Ted, Timmy and Bridget. It was so very nice to have everyone together. Well, Peter, Roxanne, Anthony and Alex weren't able to get up from Florida, but they were there in spirit. We had a small baby shower for Kristen also. Kristen & Leo provided plenty of food and a beautiful location. The promised wildlife, however, did not make an appearance. Maybe next time.

Today, Monday, Columbus Day, we watched while the excavation man talked about the work to be done to prepare for the pole garage that Leo & Kristen are having built next to their house. It is like a pole barn, but a garage and will be built by the Amish. It will be steel construction with a steel roof. If all goes well, it should be completed by Thanksgiving or the end of November, hopefully before the first snow.

After lunch we drove to Lake Wallenpaupack and walked along a path on a berm at one end of the lake. Leo & Kristen then took us to Promised Land State Park where we walked on a trail next to the lake there. It was absolutely beautiful with the colorful leaves reflecting in the lake.
On the way home we stopped to buy some Winesap apples and again to buy some real, raw honey. When we got home we got the excellent news that Chris is going to have a book published. Congratulation Christine.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Busy Weekend

On Saturday we raked and distributed mulch which was the result of having had three trees removed from our yard. While Anne kept on with her work of sanding and scraping the side porch railing, I proceeded to get a coat of paint on the floor of the back porch and to continue to work on the Box. We also rearranged our stack of firewood and brought some into the cellar to better dry there, I hope.

We had some sad news too. My cousin Tom's wife Mary passed away after a short bout with leukemia. She was my age. We are going to the wake tomorrow.

Today I put a second coat of paint on the back porch floor and helped clean up some of the side porch railing. I also got a coat of stain on the Box. I still have some more staining to do on it, but I'm anxious to see how it looks when it's all put together. I hope grandson Harry likes it. I think he will. Tomorrow morning I have to go for my periodic fasting blood test.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

The Box, The Box

Significant progress has been made on the secret box this weekend. I did run into a little hitch this afternoon in that the _____ seems to be a little warped and may reveal the _____ if not corrected. I cut new braces for it after supper but will wait until tomorrow to try them. I hope that is the problem. Wood is such a pain these days. It doesn't seem to matter what you buy or how long you dry it, it's always the devil to get everything to fit right. I am encouraged that, so far, except for the problem with the _____, everything has gone well. However, as more pieces are added, this box is taking on such weight that I may not be able to manhandle it around the workshop by myself any longer. I may have to seek assistance from a nearby housemate.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

The Box - Part 2

I made some progress on Harry's box today. It was a nice day and I felt like being outside, but I really wanted to get something done on this project, so I spent most of the day in the cellar until we went in the pool, then the spa, then back in the pool (me). I can't believe I did that. Anyway, the box is coming along. I put together the ___ and now I have to fit the ____to it. Then I need to complete the ___ and the ___. After that, it's just a matter of making and fitting on the top.

 I'm sorry I had to leave blanks in the narrative above, but it is a secret box, after all. If I revealed how I made it, it wouldn't have any secrets to it.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Harry's Box

Now that the porch project is underway, not finished but underway, it is time to turn my attention once again to Harry's Box. You may recall that this is a secret box, so I can't really say anything about it. I can say that I went to Lowes today to get some 6 x 1" drywall screws, which would be just perfect for some parts of it. However, it appears that they don't carry the 1" size. I have a partial box of them purchased not that long ago, so I know someone had them. Tomorrow I will try my luck at Home Depot. Lest I raise concern that the box cannot be completed without the screws, readers should have no fear. I have enough screws, I just wanted to get more.

I think that I mentioned in a previous post that I usually don't draw up plans for something like this, but just kind of build it as I go. Still, when building a box with special features, one does have to draw up some kind of plan and think very carefully before proceeding and messing everything up. The past two evenings I cut some wood and did a lot of thinking. I think I'm ready to get going.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

The Porch and Me. Hanna's Gone

So I keep working on this railing. I think I need a right angle drill. How do they expect you to drill holes and screw screws when you have a half a millimeter of space? The railings are finally cut correctly and the holes patched with wood putty, but I had to work on the bat cave too and I have to figure out how to work in a very limited space. Maybe Anne posted more pictures. I'll have to look. I can't forget to check my own blog too, for comments. Someone may say something important again.

Soon I may get to comment on kayaking. My friend Ray called and asked if I wanted to go kayaking on the Delaware in two weekends. If my back (side) is ok, it sounds like it would be fun.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

The Porch, Hanna and Me

If you read Anne's blog you know I have been working on the back porch. She even has pictures. Well, I can't very easily take pictures of myself while I'm working now, can I? In one of her pictures you see me leaning on a post which I was very proud to have erected. After I got it there, I realized that it was probably going to be too short at 42" for the new railing. The old post had been 42" so I went with that and the post sleeves that you buy are 42". Not being a builder of porches, I didn't consider that the post sleeve goes above the step while the post continues on below. Also, step railings on 1911 built houses were shorter than they are today. Anyway, I didn't expect to get much work done today because of tropical storm Hanna. I was surprised that I was able to get about four hours of work done, cutting a new 48" post, cutting a new 2x10 piece to mate it to, getting everything as plumb as possible. [Why is it that everything can line up perfectly when held together and clamped, but the second you drill a whole, things get out of whack?] Oh well, I got all the steps in and a composite sleeve and cap on the post. I still have to putty the screw wholes, touch up the paint on the risers, sand and paint the stringers and, of course, put in the railing. That will require some angle cuts, so I had better be wide awake.

She Who Must be Obeyed is anxious for me to start on power washing the porch so that she can start painting the railing that she has been diligently working on. That means cleaning the soffits, pillars, and, oh the window frames need painting. (Please refer to "Baby Blues" in today's comic section of your local newspaper.)

It is certainly a full time job taking care of Morning Glory Alley. I'd better retire so I have the time.

As for tropical storm Hanna, it soaked us with a couple of inches of rain and we had some light wind, but nothing as of 10:00 pm that would seem like a tropical storm/former hurricane. That's ok with me. I wanted there to be a couple of inches more water in the pool and I think we needed the rain, although not all at once.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Adirondack Park - 2008

We went camping at Eighth Lake and to best describe the weather, there is a poem in a book that I gave to Leo, Travels With a Kayak, by Whit Deschner, that describes it perfectly. Thanks to Leo for copying it. We had a good time in spite of the weather.

It rained and rained and rained,
The average fall was well maintained,
And when the tracks were simply bogs,
It started raining cats and dogs.
After a drought of half an hour,
We had the most refreshing shower;
And then, most curious thing of all,
A gentle rain began to fall.
Next day was one but fairly dry,
Save for one deluge from the sky,
Which wetted the party to the skin,
And then at last - the rain set in.

One of the sight seeing highlights for me was a trip to the Adirondack Museum in Blue
Mountain. We visited this museum many years ago and I was impressed with it then when
it was much smaller. I was no less impressed with it this time.

It was nice to see some folks who we had not seen in a while, like Caroline and Jeremy and
Chris T. We had never met Jeremy's children, nor Chris's girlfriend, Lauren.

We brought the Folbot with us and since it has been a while since I assembled it, it took
about 50 minutes to get it together. As always, Anne and I found it a bit sluggish as a
two person boat, so I decided to rig it for solo use. That really made a big difference. It
seemed to glide along much easier and faster. I really brought it because I was reluctant
to put the Tsunamis on top of the car, but after seeing so many kayaks transported that
way, I think we may try that next year.

We also drove into Inlet and Old Forge and visited Old Forge Hardware, which is
something of a local tourist attraction. You get the idea of what the area is like when
the big whoop is visiting the hardware store. Anne bought a canning kit and sourdough
starter and Greg found a walking stick that helped him hobble along on his sprained
ankle.

Chris T. recommended his favorite Scotch, Ardberg, so when we got home I went out
and bought a bottle. It is very nice; smoky, as I like it, but light and refined.

As for wildlife, we heard bard owls and loons and we did see a bear on the road, not
too far from the camp ground.

Anne and I were very pleased with our tent which kept us perfectly dry despite some
horrendous downpours during a couple of the nights. We were actually quite
comfortable with our regular sleeping bags and an air mattress that Anne got before the trip.
Most meals were shared with Art, Marian, Andy and various others, which worked out well,
I thought. Unfortunately, we had to pack our tent, canopy and boat still wet in the car.
When we got home, we put everything out in the yard and it dried quickly.

It's hard to imagine how much stuff you have to pack along for a week in the woods.
We think we did pretty well in our planning and would make very few changes on
future trips. We might save some weight if we had a parawing tarp instead of our
canopy, but the canopy worked well.

Most of all it was the people that made the trip a success. It's nice to have a nice family
and I'm glad I'm a part of it.







 

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Off to the Adirondacks

Today we put the final touches on our packing preparations for our camping trip to Eighth Lake at Inlet, NY. We have everything we hope we will need including tent, canopy, kitchen table/box, stove and a 17 foot boat in our minivan. Most of the stuff is already in the car. We are looking forward to a week in the woods with Anne's family with no internet or cell phone connections. I'm sure there will be adventures and photos to share on our retuen.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Scrub a Dub Tub

I always seem to plan a whole list of things to do on a weekend and usually find that it is completely impossible to get them all done. We had ordered a new hot tub cover from the man who came to fix a leaking heat sensor. He called yesterday to say that it was in, so, at 7:45 a.m. I drove to East Brunswick to fetch it and avoid an $80.00 delivery charge. It only took about an hour and then when I got home I decided to clean and wash the minivan in preparation for our upcoming camping trip. I then set the auto pool vacuum to work and since we had a brand spanking new spa cover, I decided to try to clean the skirting around the tub in anticipation of re-staining it. Mom offered to help and I'm glad she did or I might not be alive now. (In addition to planning a whole list of things to do, I usually try to do all of them.) Mom cut the grass too while I was washing the car, so that took another chore off my list.

We got to work scrubba dub dubbing using a product sold for cleaning marine teak called Deks Rens. It worked beautifully, but we were both pretty tired by the time we finished. Almost all of the black and discoloration was removed from the wood. The new cover is lying in its box on the porch until I get and apply the stain. No point in taking any chances. One of the things that I had wanted to get started on was the remake of our back porch. I have all of the material for it except the paint for the floor, but that will have to wait for another day. Oh, I also put the last coat of stain on the boards for one of the pool benches. They should be ready to install on Monday. Fortunately, I have two more days to my weekend. Tomorrow I will take it easy (I think) and Monday, maybe I can get busy on the porch. I know, Harry's box is waiting too. Sigh!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Huckleberry Hill

Anne came to me and said that she had disturbing news. She told me that Blueberry Hill turned into Huckleberry Hill. It seems that Kristen did some research and found out the little berries I discovered on Blueberry Hill are really huckleberries. She could have just believed me, but, no, she had to do research. Well, now Leo and Kristen, Satin, Wrangler, Lace, cat 2 and cat 3 (sorry, their names escape me, probably because I'm so upset about not being believed, me being an experienced woodsman and all), bird and all those fish live on Huckleberry Hill.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Blueberry Hill

Mom and I visited Leo and Kristen this weekend at their new home. It is in a rural area of Pennsylvania in the northern Poconos. The dirt road isn't on most maps. Google can't find it. Mapquest locates it, not quite correctly, but pretty close. I was concerned that they were going to be living amongst moonshiners and crackers, but was very pleasantly surprised to find that all of the houses in their area are quite nice. Their house is very nice and is much larger than it appears when it is first approached. There is a good size porch on the front and a large deck on the rear. There is an enormous lower level that is already divided into a room to be used for computer / office, an entertainment room with a nice bar built in, an exercise room, a room that was to be a home theater, a large furnace room and a large workshop with built in workbench with two double doors opening to a driveway outside. I'll post some pictures when I figure out how. There is a hill behind the house that starts out with lawn, then low shrubs and then trees and shrub. Exploring the hill I found that the shrubs were mostly low bush blueberries. I partook of one and found it edible, the news of which prompted Mom to appear with a plastic container to collect them.

It is incredibly quiet there. Hardly a human sound can be heard. We sat on the front porch in the evening and listened to a couple of wild turkeys calling. The tom frequented their backyard and we even saw him pursuing the hen, although she seemed to be uninterested. We heard a fawn calling for its mother and Kristen professed to hear the deer walking in the woods. Although Mom, Kristen and Leo all reported seeing deer on the hill, I saw only one. I did see many in other places on our visit. I got up in the middle of the night to use the rest room and decided to have a look outside. The stars were astounding. There was no ground light, only pitch black as a backdrop. We wish Kristen and Leo the very best in their new home and hope that their family has many years of happiness on Blueberry Hill.  [You can view some pictures of Leo and Kristen's new home at www.flickr.com/wvkol ]

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Great American Shelving Adventure (Part 6)

My Goodness! It has been a long time since I have written anything here. Much is going on. A new roof is being installed on our house, Leo and Kristen are moving (tomorrow in fact), Pippi has finished elementary school (congratulations) and I have started on the last phase of the Great American Shelving Adventure. This part consists of building the toy box of secrets. I can't say anymore otherwise it wouldn't be a secret. I have doped out a plan and cut the wood. Now I must plan some more before starting assembly. I tend to build things with only a sketchy plan and then build as I go. Sometimes that works. Once in a while I forget something along the way and I have to re-construct as  I go. Anyway, this box is turning out to be a lot bigger than I expected. Oh well, it has to hold a lot of treasures. Maybe I can post a picture when it is finished, if I can still remember how. No, I can't post pictures during construction - the box has secrets. 

Friday, April 25, 2008

The Great American Shelving Adventure (Part 5)

Tonight I put the second and I hope final coat of polyurethane on Harry's desk top. I have committed to deliver and install all pieces and parts tomorrow. Well, of course, not the storage box which I haven't even started yet. That will be the next thing to do. I glad I'm going to start working four days a week beginning May 5th, so I have the time to do all of these things. I may even get the time to post some more stuff on my own blog here.

Friday, April 18, 2008

The Great American Shelving Adventure (Part 4)

Everyone now seems to have a blog and when I read them, I feel compelled to leave a comment, or at least think about leaving a comment and that takes a lot of time. I hardly have time to add to my own blog. Besides, with the great shelving adventure, I have to actually do something with the shelving before I can add anything onto my blog about it, which takes more time. Anyway, I now have a coat of stain on both sides of Harry's desk. I filled in a rough spot on the back edge and went over the whole top with OO steel wool (OO is very fine). Now I have to decide if I want to add another layer of stain. It looks pretty good the way it is, but it may not be quite deep enough in color. I'll have to see how I feel about it tomorrow.

There are only two weeks to go before I will start working four days a week. I have mixed emotions about this plan. I think it is a good way to transition into retirement, but I need a plan for this plan. I just can't hang around every Monday like it's a vacation day, can I? I'll need to do something, but I don't want to just work either. If I'm going to work, I might as well go to work and get paid. No one will pay me to work around the house. The whole point, of course, is that I don't want to work any more. If you count summer jobs, I've worked about 50 years. I think you ought to be able to stop at some point if you want to. But will I need money? Will I be able to continue to live in New Jersey? It's a puzzlement.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

The Great American Shelving Adventure (Part 3)

The shelves are now stained with the very able help of Harry who enjoyed himself thoroughly. In the interest of saving time, I applied a coat of satin polyurethane by myself and the shelves are ready for installation. The desk part of all of this is 3/4" birch plywood. I rounded the two front corners (I dislike sharp corners on things that stick out in kids' rooms) and applied birch edging. The edging is pre glued and is put on with the use of an iron set to "cotton." The instructions warn to use a piece of foil to protect the bottom of the iron, but I found that I couldn't hold the edging even while manipulating the foil and the iron, so I skipped the foil. No harm befell the iron. I must now fill a couple of very small defects near the edge of the plywood and sand the top edge ever so slightly to put a small bevel along the entire top. Another option would be to use a router, but that seems too aggressive for this project. I'm sure that Norm Abrams would do so, however, I think hand sanding is the answer here. After the sanding is done and the edge satisfactory, stain and polyurethane will be applied. I think that Harry may want to help with the staining.

By the way, for the benefit of Uncle Pete, who is singlehandedly battling gangs and trying to keep order in Haiti, "Harry" is really Stephen.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The Door (Part 2)

I got the door assembled at home and transported it to Basking Ridge where it was then installed. When Timmy saw me with my tools, he quickly got his own tool box and carried it into the kitchen commenting, "This is heavy." Both Timmy and Bridget watched me carefully and provided helpful assistance by handing me nails as needed and by asking many question along with showing me that they had toy tools similar to mine. The installation went smoothly. I now must finish off the top, install catches and make a smooth transition to the top closet shelf.
 
While this is going on, I must continue with the Great Shelving Adventure, but cutting the wood to proper length, sanding and having Harry help me apply stain.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Door

I have been working on Teddy and Patti's door for their closet and hope to be able to deliver and install it this Saturday. So far things have gone well. I am putting a poly stain on it and I'm finding it tough to spot little runs of varnish which show up quite plainly the next day after it is dry. I am building a frame from measurements that I took at their house, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything fits ok. If it doesn't quite fit like I hope, Timmy got some tools for Christmas, I think and maybe he can help me fix it. Then we will proceed to Harry's shelving. I didn't buy the stain for that yet because I want to give Harry a few samples from which to choose. Maybe that's making things more complicated, but it's his room and I want him to be happy when it is all done.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Great American Shelving Adventure (Part 2)

 I went to Home Depot today to get shelving for my grandson Harry's room. I don't know how these stores make a profit with the lousy wood they sell. They had a lot of 1x10x8 shelving so I thought it would be easy go get what I needed, but each piece I picked up was worse than the one before it. I had gone through three quarters of their supply to get descent pieces. All of which was a piece of cake compared with my visit to Lowes the other day. I looked at the line by the cash registers and there was none, so I got my cart and loaded up with a piece of plywood for his desk and shelving brackets, along with a door for Timmy and Bridget's house. When I reached the register there was one couple ahead of me and then it happened. Every cash register in the store went dead. All the lights were on, but the registers were not. The couple ahead of me had to leave to get their daughter from school, but now there were all these people behind me. I don't know where they came from; the store seemed empty a few moments before. Everyone just stood there, customers and employees alike, not knowing what to do. Finally a woman came out of the office carrying plastic boxes with paper forms and announced that the cashiers would have to manually write up each item and since nothing has a price tag on it anymore, they would have to GO BACK INTO THE STORE AND LOOK FOR EACH ITEM TO GET THE PRICE!!! Fortunately, I had a pretty good idea of what my items cost and they accepted my numbers, except for two sizes of brackets, which I didn't know and which another employee went back to check while the cashier was handwriting everything. I was lucky. My cashier said she had another job in a clothing store and that they always had to write things up manually. There was generally a chorus of groans from the other cashiers that "We never did this before. How do we do this? We haven't been trained on what to do." To pay, I gave the girl my Lowes credit card which they laid under a piece of paper and proceeded to rub with a pencil to get an impression of it. I didn't mind so much the time I wasted because the whole thing was such a hoot.
  
I now have most of (maybe all) the shelving and brackets I need. I want to let it dry a little before I do anything else with it. Tomorrow, I'll look for some stain. I hope that won't be as adventuresome. In the meantime, where's that dram of Scotch?

Sunday, March 9, 2008

The Handyman

We had a man in today from Roto Rooter to clean out our house drain and he remarked on seeing my workshop that "You must be a handyman." I though that yes, I guess I am a handyman, but not just any handyman. I have a special calling in life. I knew for years that I had a destiny in home repairs, from digging trenches to put in light posts, remodeling the second floor and putting in a new bathroom at our former home in Ewing, building a darkroom and shelves at or home in Aberdeen to removing bushes, digging tons of dirt, building porch steps and more shelving at our present home. In fact, I have built so many shelves, I suggested to my spouse that my tombstone should read, "He Built Shelves." I have repaired water lines, faucets, tight doors, rebuilt kitchen cabinets, replaced or added electrical outlets, wired rooms for stereo speakers, wallpapered and painted, refinished floors and the list goes on. I recently bought a pressure washer [family take note] to clean gutters, remove paint, clean soffits and outdoor equipment. I am truly a handyman. No, not a handyman, I am The Handyman of Morning Glory Alley. 

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Table Saw

Recently, my daughter said to me, "Father dear, oh Father dear, you have written about Scotch and about kayaking, but, alas and forsooth, you have written nary a word about a table saw which is part of the name of your venerable blog." When your daughter speaks to you in such a way you first wonder if she has been reading too much Medieval literature and then you decide that, lo, she is right, I have written nary a word about a table saw, so, I will set about to correct that situation.

A few weeks ago I bought a new table saw. It is a Ridgid model sold by Home Depot. Ridgid Tools is a part of the Emerson line of companies. Emerson was founded in 1890 as the Emerson Electric Manufacturing Company and initially produced reliable fans. When I was a young boy, I had an Emerson phonograph. For those who may not remember, or are too young to know, a phonograph is a machine that spins a large plastic disk, called a record, upon which a tone arm is placed to produce music or other sound. Today it is often referred to as a turntable, except that a turntable usually lacks the phonograph's amplifier and speaker. I recall that my family subsequently acquired an Emerson High Fidelity phonograph with an automatic record changer and an Emerson television set. I should mention that I had an aunt who worked for Emerson Electric at the time.
 
Lest the reader get the impression that there was some nostalgic connection between the Emerson appliances of my youth and this brand of table saw, be assured that such is not the case. When I buy something like a tool, I usually try to do as much research as I can on the internet and by visiting stores to look at the item, which can be revealing and bring about a different impression than simply reading a description.
 
For many years my saw of choice has been and is a radial arm saw. I have had several over the years and find that I can cut on it about 80 percent of what I need to cut. For wide panels I have used a hand held power circular saw. There are those who advocate the purchase of a table saw as the first bench tool that a woodworker should undertake. Their arguments have merit, but I have been happy with my radial arm saw.
 
Still, there are things that can be done more accurately and easier on a table saw. I thought to incorporate a small one into my workbench and have it act as supplemental support for pieces being cut on my radial arm saw and vice versa. I had in mind a small saw, but when I looked at some and read about them, most were little more than junk. I don't have the space for what I would really like which is a stationary saw. When we moved into our present home with a full basement from a house with no basement, I looked at the cellar an envisioned a wonderful workshop, with a stationary tool here, a stationary tool there and stationary tools everywhere. Things did not turn out to be that way, all for the better actually.
 
Our cellar has been developing into something like a recreation room with a pool table, train set, craft table, stereo and wood stove, not to mention the infamous slot machine. The train set (O gauge) was beginning to take up the entire cellar area and I was getting resentful of the presence of the pool table which prevented me from creating an even larger railroad empire. I disassembled the 8 foot long craft table and began surrounding the hapless pool table with train track. Despite reading of enthusiasts who actually bought adjacent houses so they could expand their layouts, I had an epiphany and decided that, for now, that wasn't for me. I radically reduced the size until my layout is now approximately 8' x 10'. With the help of She Who Must Be Obeyed, I fit most of the accessories from my larger layout onto it. There is now space that can actually be used for something like sawing wood on my new table saw.
 
My workshop is separated from this area by a partition wall and shares the space with a laundry tub and clothes washer and dryer. I find that it is quite adequate for most projects. I even made raised panel doors and new drawer fronts for our kitchen cabinets there.
I thought about writing an ode to my table saw and for some reason the song "Dunderbach" keeps coming to mind. My late father-in-law loved to sing this and many other songs at family gatherings. I recently transposed a VHS tape onto a DVD including footage of him signing this song. I didn't remember all the words and figured that I could watch the DVD and reverse it until I wrote down the words. Then I decided to try checking the internet. Wow, I couldn't believe how much there was out there about "Dunderbach," or "Dunderbeck," or "Johnnie Verbeck" as he is variously named. I will allow any interested readers the pleasure of doing a Google search on "Dunderbach Oh Dunderbach" to find the many posts on this old folk song. In the meantime, here is a little ditty:
 
ODE TO A TABLE SAW
Oh Table Saw, oh Table Saw, you cut the wood so clean
You are an orange wonder, a really neat machine
Now all the boards and scraps of wood
Will never more be seen,
They'll all be turned to something else
By Grampy's new machine.
 
That's probably enough of that. The fact that I have not written about my table saw until now may have something to do with the fact that I have yet to cut an actual piece of wood with it. I did turn it on and checked all of the surfaces for true and found everything to be well adjusted right out of the box. The table saw, besides being a real thing, is, in this blog, a symbol for all things relating to crafts, woodworking and home improvements. Into which category, a dram of Scotch, kayaking or a table saw will I fit my other interests: toy trains, attempting to play the banjo and photography? I guess you'll have to check back to find out.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The Great American Shelving Adventure (Part 1)

I promised my grandson, Stephen that I would help him build a bookcase for his bedroom. I should have left it at that, but I had to open my mouth and suggest that he might like adjustable shelving with some type of desk and storage space. That sounded good to him as long as there is a trap door someplace in it, like a secret compartment. I asked what he wanted to store in the compartment, so I could get an idea of the size it should be and it turns out he plans to store himself in it. A little larger compartment than I thought, but, oh well.

I went to the Home Depot near my office to price the uprights, brackets, wood, etc. I have to say I was dismayed. The collection of uprights was a jumble of different sizes and only a few of each. The labels on the shelves had the sizes cut off so it was difficult to know with which product they were associated. I managed to get one of the uprights out of the tangle and found that it was made by Rubbermaid. It was clearly metal and not rubber. I didn't quite know what to make of that so I headed to the lumber department and was even more dismayed that I wasn't able to find any 5/4 pine which I think goes better with the hardware I want to getthan 3/4 inch shelving. Tomorrow I will head off to Lowes and the saga will continue.

The Soap Dispenser Caper

When I installed a new sink in our kitchen, I inserted a soap dispenser in a hole in the top rim of the sink. That was only a year or so ago and I can still remember the contortions I went through to get it there. For some reason I had to install it after the sink was in place. 

Fast forward a year or so and my spouse pointed out that the metal tube in the thing had corroded to the point where it wasn't working. Off I went to the Home Depot and bought a new one which I determined had a plastic tube, so there was no longer a danger of corrosion. I then removed all of the stuff under the sink, gathered my tools, got on my back and immediately realized that that wasn't going to work very well. My back came in contact with the front of the sink cabinet and, as you might imagine, caused great pain and anguish. I secured a pillow to lie on, but this put me too high to be able to put my arms to good use. I got  a smaller pillow. Now I was under the sink and could barely reach the nut holding the dispenser. Fortunately, over the years I have accumulated various tools for odd situations such as this. I have a sink wrench, without which I would have been unable to proceed, but the proceeding went very slowly. After much angst I got the darn thing off and thought, "Oh well, the worst part is over." You can probably guess that Mr. Murphy was about to apply one of his laws.

After several false starts and a near paralyzed back, the new dispenser and soap bottle were installed. The only thing left was to insert the pump. Spouse said, "Why don't you run some water through it first because it will work better with the soap." O.K. I always do what Spouse says, especially in the kitchen, so, we inserted the tube in some water and pumped. And the water squirted out of the spout, where it was supposed to come out and from under the cap, where it wasn't supposed to come out. I examined the cap and saw a microscopic crack where the metal spout joined the tube in the underside of the cap. 

I had to return this thing, but I was not going under that sink again to try to extricate the now secure dispenser along with it's bottle filled with soap. I decided to just buy another one and to swap out the pump and return the defective unit. I went to our local Home Depot and, of course, they didn't have it in white. I had to wait until I went to work to go to the store where I bought the first one to get a replacement. I was wondering as I bought it if it would have the same defect. Luckily there was no problem with the new pump and we now have a soap dispenser that dispenses soap ans isn't corroded and won't ever corrode, I hope. 

Friday, February 8, 2008

Kayaking

2007 was not a good year for kayaking for us. We went out on Mother's Day on Lake Assunpink with our son and his wife and didn't go out again until late summer. One problem was that I got a sports related injury in the summer. I went into a bookstore to get a kayaking magazine and when I came out I slipped and fell on my knees in the wet parking lot. I got up thinking that I had only got my pants wet from falling and it wasn't until about a week later that I began to have pain in my left knee, leg and foot. The pain and stiffness was such, before I finally went to see a doctor, that I was afraid that if I got in my Tsunami 14, I wouldn't be able to get out again. We finally did go kayaking with some friends and I borrowed one of their sit-on-tops. It was great to get out on the water, but the sit-on-top was not as easy to paddle as my boat.
This year I am all ready. My legs bend and flex and my foot is no longer stiff and sore. However, my spouse's arm has been giving her some pain and I am concerned about how we will get the kayaks on our car. (Of course I'm more concerned about her arm and she has been to see a doctor, too.) well, when the weather gets warmer, we will see how we deal with this.

Thoughts on Retirement

I am approaching retirement as I write this; about 16 months (485, give or take a few days, but whose counting?
A lot of thoughts are going through my mind as I get closer to that time that many look forward to with great joy and many dread. Having worked since I got out of school, it is hard to imagine an existence where there will not be the daily obligation to get up and go to an office. Work for me has generally not been unpleasant although some jobs were more fun than others. There will be a void of about 10 hours a day, including commuting time, not to mention, or maybe to mention, the financial void created by the lack of a paycheck. 
Soon I will have all of that extra time. "Every day is a Saturday," says my friend, Ray. But, the money will stop coming in too. My spouse assures me that we are financially O.K. for the next 55 years. I plan to live to 120. After all, some people do, so why not me? And, there is a financial incentive to do so. I have a $1.00 bet with my granddaughter, Pippi, that I will live that long. Retirement is no time to be losing a dollar, so I have to reach my goal. Pippi won't ever have to pay me a dollar if I win because when I do reach 120, she will be a senior citizen and I'll let her off the hook because of her age.
But, I digress. I was commenting that I will no longer have a steady job or a paycheck. What will I do with myself? She Who Must Be Obeyed has had no difficulty coming up with a list of things to keep my little grey cells and my weary body active. But, shouldn't there come a time when you get to put your feet up, your head back and sip the Scotch?
There was an article in Time magazine recently that told of a study that proved that older men were at less risk for heart trouble if they had two drinks a day (women can have one drink). A while ago My doctor asked me if I had a drink every day. I said that I did not, which was and still is true. He said that I should, quoting some studies that proved the benefits of doing so. Who am I to dispute both my doctor and Time magazine? I do question one part of the Time article in which it says that you shouldn't have your entire weekly allotment at one time. Fiddlesticks. I want to be as healthy as I can and I have a lot of catching up to do.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

First Words

My daughter, Christine, suggested that I should start a blog. She has a very nice one, The Simple and the Ordinary.  I struggled with a name and then decided to be inspired by and to base it loosely on the name of her friend, Liz B's site, A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy. In my case, I put the reference to the drink at the beginning rather than at the end to avoid confusion between the sites. So I will now launch myself into the blogosphere.