Aging ...

I feel like crying ... Today I ran into an emotional boundary for me ... I don't want to be an old man ... The V.A. Doc said, your BP was high. Will you take this medicine? Or do I have to put you down as refusing treatment? Dang!  ... Acquiesce.

Pills for triglicerides ... pills for high blood pressure ... fancy blood tests ... scheduled for a colonoscopy (is this a violation?)  ... neurological consult (my wife wants somebody to check out my head)  ... the dietician is staring ominously at me ... the LCSW sat me down and had a little chat (she shuddered when I told her about standing in Mosul, Iraq next to massive live Russian machine-gun shells lying in the gutter and the guys told me not to walk on the grass because there were live mortar rounds there ... good thing I didn't tell her about the bomb that exploded a couple of trucks in front of me) ... more paperwork ... pills are in the mail ... lab tests tomorrow ... 

My wife's BP was 235 over something bad ... migraine all week ... passed out on the couch (snoring).

We walk slower ...

They asked me, would you describe your exercise routine as: 1) non-existent? 2) mild?  3) moderate? or 4) Strenuous?  (and raised their eyebrows ...)  Like most truck drivers ... I probably fall closer to the first category ... They said, "Exercise, Eat Less, cut carbs ... or expect severe consequences ... in the very near future."

I don't want to be in the old-man health group!  (a plea ... a cry of anguish ... )

Grandson Tries Trike

He couldn't wait for me to finish the steering ... before he sat in it and had his picture taken.

It's getting there ... no geartrain yet ...

More Trike Progress

What you are looking at here is the seat mount welded to the frame. I had to make a sloped mount from a Direct TV antenna bracket. And about halfway up the seat ... inside the purple of the rim ... is the other bracket welded to the frame. These two points rigidly mount this Fiberglas seat to the frame. I've also added on some steering mechanism ... but it's not finished yet.

Answer some email ... play with my blogsite ... watch Auburn win another football game without any discernible offense ... waiting to see if Georgia wins tonight ...

Google?

It would seem that Google has taken a stand against Prop. 8 ...

Does that mean we need to take our blogs to LiveJournal or Wordpress ... if we truly believe that the religious term "Marriage" was ordained of God and is between only a man and a woman?

Ultimatum Friday

The checkbook has issued an ultimatum ... if we still want to buy gasoline, food, and live in something other than our car ... it is time to find some gainful employment ... you know, the kind that brings in money ...

I looked at a number of jobs online ... and worked on fabricating the steering mechanism for the grandchild trike ... and when the grandkids showed up, I had to go bike riding with them ... then a little more work on the bike. Hopefully I can finish it up soon before things drastically change.

Starting to put the motor on my recumbent ... it is going to require some mods.

Industrious Today

Today I industriously worked on my extension course ... dutifully ... a lovely day ... a short nap ... made 2 loaves of bread (neither rose properly) ... even managed to make it to choir practice. Hmm. And tomorrow begins another wonderful day. Oh, that Schwinn in the previous post is NOT mine. And I'm not in this foto either ... just an "old" friend and the Governor of Nevada.

Industrious Day?

Today was to be an industrious day ... I swept the floor ... went and played a birthday song for Daniel (it's his birthday ... and the last day of his driver license) ... ate 3 cinnamon rolls ... played the piano ... Daniel drove us to Ozark to pay his car insurance ... and for me to pickup the motorcycle study-guide for the written test ... then to Dothan to get the air compressor repaired ... and get a set of needle-nose pliers replaced (under warranty) ... to a grandkids house to pick up 2 "dead" bicycles ... ate lunch at the Mexican Connection ... back to the house ... swap trucks and went to Spring St to look at the property ... then I borrowed Daniel's Dakota to go to a possible job interview (a welder?) ... the GEBE engine landed on our doorstep (GE = Golden Eagle and BE may = Bike Engine). And I really need to sit down and spend a LOT of time finishing up the online study course I've been taking. As well as the trike for the grandkids to use ... see ya! ... later!

Hole in the Wall

This isn't about some rock or mountain formation ...
The old plastic dryer vent had been corrupted by the sun and was half gone. The dryer hose was just sticking outside thru the hole in the wall. So we bought an aluminum dryer vent ... Which I adjusted for length and installed today. My wife doesn't like unsightly holes in the walls ... despite the cost to get an aluminum vent ... it meets with her approval.

Darn Dog!

Our landlord has this mutt puppy as an outside dog ... it's friendly as all get out ... and if you step outside ... "POOF!" he's there and looking for attention ... pet me, scratch my ears, rub my belly ...
Chews on whatever. And occasionally digs ... well, the darn dog went right to the root of the matter and dug up the root of the watermelon vine. We didn't discover it until it was too late to rescue the plant. And the sow bugs got the one-and-only small watermelon. His name is "Presley."

Ever so Thrilled!

My wife is thrilled that I made it so the washer & dryer 

are both installed and functional ... 

besides putting the washer in this pantry ... 

I had to run a separate drain line

out to the gray-water catchment area 

where it is organically processed and cleaned.

The landlord said the septic tank couldn't handle that much water 

and he wasn't about to start pumping it out on a frequent basis.

This is the dryer ... 

now located in the closet area of the walk-in closet 

(other bedroom).

It sure generates a lot of heat and humidity ...

And this shows the relationship of the two ... 

divided by a wall ...

one in the pantry 

and the other in the 2nd bedroom

Honoring Curt Cornett

Roberta with her 3 daughters, Daucie, Gail, Lisa, and her son, Bill, at the graveside service for CWO Curtis Cornett (Roberta's spouse). Assorted grandchildren and great-grandchildren were also in attendance ... along with various friends and ex-family. There was a dedicatory prayer, a talk of anecdotes and the promise of the resurrection, followed by military honors and the presentation of the flag to the family.

Mowing ... between the rain storms

Daniel asked me to do him a favor and mow around and under the road-grader

So I also mowed under the trailers ... where the big mowers can't reach.

Basically I wanted that strip along the building mowed ...

to make it easier for me to get in and out with my bicycles.

I also started the trucks to charge the batteries.

It's raining again ... THUNDER ... so I gotta shutdown !

Wouldn't you know ...

I finally decided that it just wasn't going to rain ... 

despite the two storms that barreled thru the Gulf ... 

so I watered the garden this morning.

So while I was mowing around the shop and the truck trailers ... 

it started RAINING.

Now I'm stuck indoors.

Wishing I had some email or a new blog to read.

Got Gas?

I don't know what it is like where you are living ... but in this area, not all gas stations have gas.  Hip-Hop is out, Flying J is out ... as are a lot of other stations.  Yesterday there were long lines at Sam's Club (which was still selling gas).  Presumably this Hurricane thing has put a crunch on gasoline production and distribution to large areas of the country.

Left to Ride Home

We went to WalMart yesterday for a few things. While there, I saw this bicycle on sale. It's a Mongoose Paver with an aluminum frame and 700cc wheels. A BIG bike. My wife declined me attempting to jam it into her car ... so I ended up riding it 10 miles home ... over hill and dale ... 2 of those hills are big enough and steep enough that I only rode halfway up before resorting to walking to the top. I did make it home on the bicycle ... but I have remnants of a sore butt today ...

Thursday

Took a bicycle ride ... hacked & wheezed & spit mucous. It is getting gray & dark and feeling like rain.

Oatmeal for breakfast ... supposed to be good for cholesterol ... adding cinnamon to it also helps lower blood sugar. Most of you young "whippershappers" don't need that information.

Some big tomato worm ate up all the tomato plants, the eggplant, and the green pepper plant, while we were gone. Must have gotten enough to mutate ... because it is no where to be found now. It left the marigolds strictly alone. Some mint is coming back up. And the sweet basil wasn't touched either. Also, there is a teenie-tiny watermelon on a vine that popped up.

Charming to be back here ... instead of some nice desert like Deming, NM ... LOTS OF FRESH BUG BITES!

Traveling Sites

This doesn't exactly have wings like regular grasshoppers ...
It's a giant in comparison ... about 3 times as big ...
I wonder what it is?
I saw it in Lordsburg, NM

I informed him that his mother-in-law
could actually drive to his house in only 4 hours ...
instead of 5-1/2.
He was so stressed, he dropped 10 lbs.
and now weighs about 185 ... those were the days ...

ALM's New Trike

Jack at S&B Recumbents built this trike. It had to be blue. And she wanted something that sat a bit higher off the ground than a DeltaWolf trike. She also requested a 26" rear wheel in stead of having 20" wheels all around. After riding it around the compound yard ... it was decided to have it shipped to the house. If we are at the house by the end of next week ... it should be too.

Jack and I've made plans to build another lowracer next year. The good Lord willing ...

Oma's New Fans

Senor Jose' and I installed 2 new ceiling fans
in Mom's dining/family room

New pot in the back bathroom --
economical 1.6 gal. per flush