HUMANE SOCIETY WEB PAGE WITH PICTURES
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THE LAWNMOWER'S STAND
That is what the lawnmower is - standing in the backyard, having chopped down some of the grass and weeds back there, and then quitting. I have labored over it in the steamy heat of Tuesday and no go. The mower won't chug and I am making no progress. At least the front lawn no longer looks like a forgotten junkyard - a couple of small limbs to pick up and some raking and sweeping of driveway debris and it should look habitable.
The question is: Like Custer, is the lawnmower's last stand?
BACK TO SCHOOL - BUT NOT FOR LONG
The day after Memorial Day observed: a Tuesday that feels like a Monday. Back to school . . . hahahahahahaha . . . for the kids, but only for a few days until summer vacation . . . HAHAHAHAHAHA - he who laughs last, laughs in upper case.
Out front is an incredible "scruff" lawn, the result of a long dry spell and then some on and off rain. Today could be mowing the lawn day, and, unfortunately, it should also be weedeater day. I don't know, maybe I could have a weedeater with a 10-foot radius. This sounds like an idea I should think all the way through - nothing like inadvertantly chopped bushes, people and the possibility of the string being stronger than expected and pulling me and the weedeater into a death spiral around a tree.
Do I have gas for the mower??? Hmmmmm . . . maybe another day of scruff.
THE KINGMAN FRATERNAL CEMETERY
We, my mother and I, journeyed to my father's grave in Fountain County yesterday. We usually go on the Thursday before Memorial Day observed, but this year the temperature was predicted to be so high that we delayed until yesterday, Friday.
This is our eighth Memorial Day trip with a big urn of flowers strapped on the backseat with the seatbelt. Mother drives down and I make the trip home; we leave between 6-7am and get back around those hours in the pm. The gravesite looks lovely with the flowers on it, and the small cement molded dog napping at the foot of the monument. I find it hard to think of Daddy lying there beneath the ground, but it happens to us all and the cemetery is nestled in a wooded area, well-kept . . . and he is buried next to his mother.
JODY M&M
You too can be an m&m, go
here.
OUT OF MY LEAGUE
$795 from Land's End
Every now and then, the people at Land's End, who, by the way, do make very nice clothing and blankets and, well, all sorts of things, send me a heads up on a product. Today it involved teak furniture and the lead was about shipping for only $14.50. Of course, when I looked at the webpage, the prices for the actual furniture were a
little higher . . .
A PLANT'S HOMECOMING
This purple plant has a history; this was its arrival to the house. Now look at the nurse's story post below.
SLEEPING
Here is little Cameron sleeping under an old-fashioned quilt.
A NURSE'S HOBBY
Hi, many of you know Alison, a nurse at Parkview Noble Hospital; but maybe some of you don't know of the ENA - Evil Nurse Alison - who lurks in the background waiting for plants to enter her life. Here is ENA.
Now, here is a plant that ENA had under her care. The picture was taken after it was treated with extensive watering.
Working her evil plant ways tired the Evil Nurse Alison, but, fear not, the next generation is revving up and ready to go . . .
MAY 19th
Well, a little basketball shooting and dribbling with Summer; working a very hard Sudoku correctly - yea!!!!!! - and, let's see, what else. Ah, not much. It is 4:44 pm. 2/3 rds of the Devil Number and it is like a morgue here. And a messy one at that. Summer saw an attack squirrel outside and chucked something at it . . . but it did not move. Another chuck, no movement; still another, again no movement. Then it changed position and Summer yelled, "It's going to attack meeeeeeeeee!"
Robert, the caveman Ugh, is grilling outside tonight and hobbling around with his stiff ankle. All those who think he should do some of the stretching exercises, raise your hand. I see a sea of hands.
Wii Wii Wii Wii Wii Wii Wii
WE HAVE A Wii - this is not boasting; you just can't use the homophones in another way. Anyway, it is downstairs and Robert tried it out first - bowling. Summer is now playing basketball. I am not going to play because I think I will get addicted and then have to kill everybody else.
LONG TIME, NO POST . . .
Yes, that is right, but I can't quite figure out why. Was it the struggle with the film posting? I don't believe so. Has nothing happened? Well, there was a big windstorm and I did buy mulch and a trellis.
Oh, here's a little blip on the LGC (little green car) radar screen. Yesterday at Rural King when the fellow was loading up the mulch, he asked, "So what is the name of this shitty green color (on your car)? It's reed green, but I had to spell it for him. I will admit the LGC is the color of mucous when you are sick with a cold, but come on, I don't think that was a PC kind of thing to ask - especially in LGC's presence. When we pulled out, we gave him a big diesel roar.
Little Green Car to Rural King guy: "I chew up up and spit you out."
LAST NORTH SIDE KENDALLVILLE BASKETBALL
Okay, up and at the high school gym by 7:45 for Summer's last basketball game. You know I don't know the name of the coach, but he has been a very nice man and coached the girls with a kind and positive attitude. I asked Summer what his name was, and she replied "Coach". I'll be posting some more video on either YouTube or GoogleVideo later today or tomorrow.
Now . . . planting some things in the yard - like TREES. ACK.
OH . . . NEVER MIND
I misheard someone say that one of the movies at the Strand was going to be "NECK" and thought that perhaps it would be okay because a lot of the time, movies with weird names are just that - good.
I actually looked on the Internet for the movie "NECK" and did not find it, if you don't count something called Red Neck which I decided to not even investigate. The actual name of the movie is "NEXT" which sounds like a plausible movie title, but just doesn't have the possibilities of "NECK". Now that movie title could have you thinking French Revolution, Madame DeFarge and long knit scarves.
FRIDAY OR FRYDAY
It will more than likely be both, since the weather person on a Fort Wayne channel said the temperature was going to be in the 80's and it would be muggy, muggy and more mugs. So perhaps Fryday is not the best word to describe the comfort zone today - Steamday might be more apt, but then that doesn't make a pun. It is possible a lot of people would appreciate a "no pun" post; ack, I dare not think this way.
Yes, yes, I was born to pun-ish.
LITTLE GREEN CAR
The LGC had a "cap" missing that was allowing diesel to leak out of someplace. It has been replaced; the LGC has more diesel in it and is resting in the garage. I have been resting on the sofa in the den where I totally goofed up the Soduku for today. Rats.
Hot and muggy and no rain yet, and none really expected. I don't want to be zapped with lightning nor left without power, but sometimes an old-fashioned thunderstorm raises your spirits and washes things clean.
EEK - TWO HOUR DELAY
Yes, guys, the foggies are thick out there this morning. Maybe I'm in London; no, I don't think so, but it is a real pea souper. The fortunate thing this morning was that I looked out the window before anyone got up, quickly checked the East Noble website and was able to prevent a catastrophic rousing of the inmates. They are up now, though.
I will be out of here, though, because the little green car is going in for a doctor's appointment at Vorderman's in Fort Wayne - a little leak in the fuel line, or a gasket, or something simple . . . I hope. I did polish the LGC up so he would go in with dignity. I'm going to wait so I will take a Sudoku; it's a Thursday one and they always seem to trick me up. I'll take a book along as well, so it will be a bit of a vacation.
Gee, I hope I'm not jinxing the LGC . . .
GO BIG GLUE
After having waxed the little green car, I decided that I would try to piece together the headlight cover and bezel that wsa broken when I ran into the post at Wal-Mart - - yes, yes, that was over two years ago, but better late than never. I purchased some Krazy glue and am now wondering if I should have gone for the super glue. Given my use of the Krazy glue, it probably was the most apropos to the situation since I glued my fingers together and the bezel repair doesn't look too sturdy. Should I commit a crime at this time, my fingerprints would be, to say the least, interesting.
I don't know if there will be a picture following or not - depends on if my fingers stick to the camera.
UPDATE: Well, a little problemo. The bezel socket is a little bent as is the bezel itself. This is going to take more thought.
WAXING THE CAR
Ah, little greenie is getting on in years; he and I have been friends for coming up on six years now - through some times that were trying, when both out batteries were a little low. Yes, yes there was that day before Thanksgiving encounter with the short post by a fire hydrant in Wal-Mart's foggy parking lot. Crunched up his little front fender pretty good - which was, of course, pretty bad.
Today I took him through the car wash and came home and waxed him - although I still have to take out a step stool so I can reach the middle of the roof.
And then I got called away and didn't finish this post.
SUMMER TOURS MIDDLE SCHOOL
Today Summer, who used to hop off the bus from daycare and race into Kindergarten, went to Kendallville Middle School for a tour . . . because she is ready to be a 6th grader.
KENDALLVILLE - $1,000
Well, if you want to get a bill for $1,000 just have a leak develop where the pipe from the main to your house is interrupted by the place where the city installed the turn-off valve. In many cases a flare connection was used which stretched, thinned and therefore weakened the copper pipe that leads to the house. Now bury it deep in the ground for oh, who knows, how many years and then when the pipe fails because it was thinned by the installers for the city, you, not
Kendallville, will be required to fix it.
Strawser Brothers did it for ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. I have a short length of new pipe and a refilled hole that cost ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
The letter I received from
Kendallville said that the homeowner is responsible for the pipe, never mind that I'm certain the homeowners were not consulted when it was first installed, using the thinning copper method.
Nevermind that I did nothing but mow the parkway above it;
nevermind that Riley Street was widened and that the city-ordered sidewalk replacement was done; never mind that the road builders and sidewalk people parked their heavy equipment on the parkway.
I don't think this is fair.
When I inquired at the water department about a ballpark figure, I was told they had no idea since a private contractor would have to be hired by me. Well, to be really, really honest, I think it is probable that a figure such as ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS for a hole and a short pipe replacement is something that they would have heard about.
The quote given me by the contractor was $900-1,000 and I imagined a trench going all the way to the house. No, it was a hole - about the size of a grave - and plumbing work; took about two hours. I thought, hey, I'm lucky - a hole and a basic pipe repair - that's probably a lot less.
Well, no. It was ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
Do you have a house connected to
Kendallville water? Hey, you may have a thinned pipe and a leak in the making - and you may have to pay ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Now, if you lived in another town, most other towns, the contractor told me the town would pay for it.
Sheeesh.
LET'S TALK WEATHER
It is supposed to be mostly sunny today, so does that mean the back and side yard parts get mowed. Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know? I guess I will do it - chop down the weeds and make a little more welcoming for backyard sit-downs; the side yard will just look better with the dandelions beheaded.
Last evening, on a walk with Sydney, I noticed that there are lawns that look much better than mine - no surprise there - and made up my mind I am going to get it professionally sprayed into submission, not at all a commitment to the environment, which is probably happy with large oxygen-producing weeds, but more of an effort to improve my outlook. Of course, the Jolly Green Giant may take exception to this plan of mine - this turning to the dark side of the force, the Grumpy Weedkilling Giant.
ANOTHER DOG HERO
This article begins with the remark that this is a dog story. Yes, it is but it is also a heartbreaking story. Here's the first paragraph:
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — This is a dog story.
It's about a plucky little Jack Russell terrier named George, who stood like a giant against two marauding pit bulls and gave his own life to save five kids from the steel-trap jaws and razor-sharp teeth of the vicious attack machines.
And here is the story.
And here is George's picture.
WATER SAGA IN KENDALLVILLE
The water department is here to shut off the water.
Strawser Bros. arrives.
Water is still flowing from the connection and the water department returns to "tweak" the valve and a pump is brought in to empty the hole.
This is the part that was at fault - some six plus feet under the ground. As it was explained, the connection on the end of the pipe is a flare fitting in which the copper pipe is stretched to make the connection. The stretching of the copper thins it and facilitates corrosion. This method of attachment has not been allowed in Kendallville for several years, so this fitting is "aged."
This is the hole after the pipe has been replaced and the standpipe reattached. The top of the standpipe which holds the water cap is visibile at the very top of the picture. This water cap is normally a few inches under the surface; dirt now covers the replaced pipe.
TODAY IS THE DAY
We have no water here at 310 N. Riley - inside that is. There is water outside when the pipe is doing something not right - maybe leaking?? Along with the water out front, I now have a big yellow thing as you can see from the picture above.
Oh, did I mention the homeowner in Kendallville is designated to PAY for the water pipe that is out by the street?
I will be blogging during the day about this: Stay tuned for illuminating photos of The Great Water Expense of 2007.
