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WEEK 40 2018

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Saturday 6 October 2018

Saturday - Cool and blustery.

I could still have done some work outside, but it was past time to do some cleaning and organizing inside.

In the evening I went over to the H's for dinner, and S showed up to do some candy lessons, and we all had a good time (and butter brickle!). I showed her the progress on the app, and she was pleased.

Books read, Week #40

#1 Dreadnought (Lost Colonies #2) #2 Star Carrier (Lost Colonies #3) #3 Atremis #4 CNTL ALT Revolt #5 Hammer of the Witches	#6 Superluminary #7 Teach Yourself C++ in 24 Hours #8 The Wright Brothers #9 Adapt and Overcome #10 Stand Against the Storm
#11 Stoke the Flames Higher #12 Hunter Killer #13 The Circle #14 The Med #15 The Gulf	#16 The Lawdog Files #17 Oregairu Vol. 5 #18 Oregairu Vol. 6 #19 Tomahawk (Lenson #4) #20 China Sea(Lenson #6)
#21 Black Storm, #22 The Command #23 Korea Strait (Lenson #10) #24 The Weapon (Lenson #11) #25 Superluminary #2	#26 Superluminary #3 #27 The Crisis (Lenson #12) #28 The Devil You Know #29 The Passage (Lenson #2) #30 Uncharted
#31 The Towers (Lenson #13) #32 The Grave's a Fine and Private Place (Flavia de Luce #9) #33 Ready Player One #34 Colours in the Steel (Fencer #1) #35 Dr. Dogsbody's Leg

I'm a bit behind on my reading, but so it goes...

I did a bit of calculation on Friday, and my propane tank should just about be empty. I started using it on June 28, so it's been exactly 100 days as of yesterday.

I talked to my neighbor and he was intending to refill his tank on Tuesday, driving into town to get it filled at CostCo. It's about half the cost of Suburban or Mountain Flame, so I'll tag along.

Friday 5 October 2018 Friday - Cool and windy still.

Not much to say, just working on the app. Settings looks good, things are starting to come together.

No sign of the dogs.

Book #35 was Dr. Dogsbody's Leg, by James N. Hall. This is a book of short stories, nominally all centered on one question: How did Dr. Dogsbody lose his leg? Dr. Dogsbody is a Napoleonic era naval surgeon, with a peg leg. Each time the subject comes up he has a different, almost plausible story. Each story is different and often introduces you to someone famous in that era, very amusing.

The leg is the MacGuffin, much like the "bag of bones" in Season 5 of Blacklist. I'm almost caught up there, and although a few episodes have been a bit too "pc" for my taste, some have been excellent.

Thursday 4 October 2018 Thursday - Cool and windy again.

No outside work, did some stuff on my taxes, and some app stuff.

The dogs escaped - I was out fiddling with ladders for a bit (before deciding not to bother with the eaves until this weekend) and they slipped through an open gate and were gone in a flash. This was serious speed, in twenty seconds were at the edge of the property bounding along happily and heading north. I think that is the direction they came from, so perhaps they are heading home. I hope so. I kept an eye out for the entire day, looking for them, but there was no sign of them.

I'm a bit sad and a bit relieved. Without any supporting documentation I would either have to pay $$ per dog to license and give them shots and such, or turn them into animal control and almost certain death.

Book #34 was Colours in the Steel (Fencer #1), by K.J. Parker. I liked it, though it's a bit gloomy, culminating in a sack of a major city (made up, but think Constantinople). It was an inexpensive Kindle edition that I bought for the 4th of July trip and didn't get around to reading until recently. It seemed long - and was, with Amazon saying the paperback weighed in at 503 pages. Sheesh. And there are two sequels...

I enjoyed Parker's "Engineer Trilogy" (In 2008! Has it really been that long?) which was also a bit on the gloomy "realist" side. This Fencer series actually predates that by 10 years or so, but you can see some similarities between them, the siege of a major city being one of them.

Byzantium (Constantinople) was never actually defeated until the advent of powerful gunpowder weapons, the sea walls and land walls proving impregnable before that. And the first sack of the city was actually from Christians - Venetians - anchored within the harbor walls I seem to recall.

Treachery does in Perimadeia as well.

It looks like the FBI report is done, and the vote for Kavanaugh for Supreme Court will take place soon. I've never seen anything handled in so nakedly false and partisan a way in the Senate in my whole life.

Wednesday 3 October 2018

Wednesday - Cool and windy, with occasional specks of rain. Here and there in the valley it was clearly raining, and you could smell it, but not really enough to even dampen the ground at the house (during the day).

I wanted to continue prepping on the western eaves, but various chores and errands kept me busy until the early afternoon, when it was just too windy to work - just walking around outside left me with grit in my eyes, definitely not painting weather.

I did some bills, and had to buy some stamps at the little local market for the last one that still doesn't take some sort of e-pay. Stamps are a half dollar now.

Also some paint and laundry soap, since I didn't get to WinCo on Sunday.

The dogs survived the night OK, in the yard. They have the kennels, but I'm not sure they understood what they were for. I made a point of putting the dog food in bowls, inside the kennels, so they know that they exist, at least.

I also took the dogs by my vet, and they determined that there were no chips. I also discovered that they are also totally unused to leashes and collars, it was a chore getting them in and out of the Explorer.

Did you know that a non-leash trained shepherd can actually bend open an aluminum D-ring?

I then took Jim to the vet, separately, for a rabies shot and a quick checkup. He's gained about 1/2 pound in the last month, which is good since he was less than 8lb and very skinny during the last visit.

Tuesday 2 October 2018

Tuesday - Cool, with a light breeze and some clouds.

Perfect painting weather. I managed to apply about 100' of eave paint - essentially half the house. This took about six hours...on ladders, and I was beat by the time the wind came up and put a stop to things.

This is a Behr latex based primer - it's much thicker than I expected, and seems to cover very well, despite the old, dry, sanded wood. Time will tell if it will stick, but I prepped the best I could.

I want to sand the front eaves a bit more, and prep them, before applying paint. West facing, they are pretty beat up. The boys did a pretty good job on the rough sanding, but there is some really raised grain, some dryrot spots, and some holes to fill.

Some stray dogs wandered into the yard, seeking water, so I closed the gate and fed and watered them, and put up a sign down at E street, and had the neighbor put something on the local internet community page. They seem nice and clean, and well taken care of, but no collars or ID. I'll have them checked for chips as well.

Monday 1 October 2018

Monday - Still warm.

This would be Mom's 94th birthday, if she hadn't passed in 1998. Happy Birthday anyway!!

I sanded some of the repairs I'd done, then painted about 30' of eaves on the back of the garage with the primer. I had to knock off at noon because it was 90F, and the paint was not applying properly...

Sunday 30 September 2018

Sunday - Warm, and windy in the afternoon. Didn't do any shopping, I wanted to finish prepping the eaves on the back of the house, and I did. By 2pm the wind was making it difficult to maneuver the large ladder. Because the ground is so treacherous I have to drag a couple of pieces of plywood along to set the ladder legs on, and then some boards and bricks to level the plywood. But it's an old double sided ladder so I can do about 6' before moving. Call it twelve or thirteen moves per side of the house...

I did a little bit of stuff in the afternoon inside, chores and whatnot. Did some reading.

Picture of the Week

Sunrise on the fall equinox

The fall sunrise on the Equinox, 2018.

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