Wednesday March 23, '11

Hail Yes.  The skies opened this afternoon and we got hail. Earlier it was 65º and then the winds moved in from the NW around 25 mph, the temps fell to 45º.  The hail was small in the downtown and golf ball sized near the North end.  Extraordinary light shows flashed everywhere and thunder rolled.  Later the purple sunset was dramatic. Thunder still rumbles over the hills as I type this several hours later.

Prepping for Rooster's Redneck Rendezvous VIII or IX (?),  Evan and I have been working on our Westies.  He had major work done on his tranny and engine mounts only to have to put a new water pump on Franz after two days of local driving.  Good thing it went out here in town and not on the hilly roads heading to Olive Hill, KY.  I attended to my perennial #1 cylinder leak by applying yet another coat of epoxy putty on the exhaust port that needs a new stud.  Aesthetics and not function is affected by the leak, therefore the patchwork fix is appropriate for me.  The patch is easily applied and holds for months and sometimes years.  Someday, I'll pull the exhaust and tap the hole for a new stud.

JPayne and I were able to fire up the brown Weekender on Saturday using starter fluid. Now for the fuel pump, hoses, coolant and fuel... crossed fingers, but I think that dog will hunt.  The wild card is the tranny, the PO reported a "no shift" between third and fourth.

At the coup I fed, watered and gathered the birds into the wire and soon after watched them file out under a gap in the lower gate, pushing up the poultry wire and scurring out of the pen.  I pledged to myself to return Sunday to patch that opening.  Having lost two hens last week... I never found feather nor skin... they just disappeared!... I have been a little apprehensive about losing more birds.

So did I return Sunday afternoon after a Roadie ride and there in the path as I turned into the drive were two MORE chickens... DEAD.

I examined them both and it appears that they were killed by a large bird (hawk or eagle). The carcasses were scarred  in only two places each. One at the back of the neck and the other at the juncture of the hips and the backbone.  The lower area was the more traumatic of the two and showed talon deep marks.

Further searching (about an hour) revealed very small areas of tufts of the neck feathers of the remaining five birds. All seven of them were gone.   All the attacks appeared in the open and not typical of a cannine attack where the dog/fox/coyote chases and corners or tears when snatching a bird. There were no paw prints or other signs of struggle in the soft soil around each circle of neck feathers.

I will get more birds... just not soon. I have to rethink this whole murder from the sky problem.  

Thanks for reading.
More later, have to sleep now.

Thursday March 10,2011

A Day in the Life:   For Preston who is probably tired of looking at sand, digicammo and Afghani native garb.

Behind the Temple: A truckload of aluminum cans for recycling

Up at 0515, I finished up my shift at 0800.  I left work this morning, drove home to pick up Spencer and then take him to school.
Afterward, I went home switched vehicles to the S-10 and went to the Temple.  Since it was raining ( and had been for two days straight),  I decided to do some recycling.  I also decided that today was the day to take a pic of everyone that I came into contact with in my rounds.

The office crew at Rumpke doing the "O-H-I-O" for Preston.

The RLS recycling plant has just been bought out by Rumpke and they have changed the process a bit, making it a bit more time consuming. What was about a 10 minute job is now 25-30; as they open, sort and inspect every bag before they weigh. Before this they just weighed, emptied and saved the bags and weighed them (tare wt) for the difference. Still at 70¢/can who's complaining!

The parts guy:I bought new wiper blades.

I stopped for wiper blades at the Ross Auto parts store at Douglas and Eastern.  At Taylor's IGA I ordered butcher cut beef steak for jerkying that I'll pick up tomorrow and got sandwich spread for lunch today.  They add cheese to their ham salad... MMmmMM.   Rivers Bend owner, Jamie Sharp was in line with Tim the owner of the IGA at the register. Small businesses... you just gotta love them.                                                                                                                                        
The rain kept up as I stopped at the feed store where I picked up rolled corn for chicken feed.  It was raining so hard that I didn't get a pic of the guy there.  I went back home and switched vehicles again (50mpg vs. 17 is a no-brainer). I also had to get the TDi to PMW, timing my visit so that it would be near lunchtime in order for me to squeeze the Jetta in on one of the racks to check out why I had lost the use of my emergency brake. One bound up cable... I ordered both.   I'll fix them on Sunday or Monday.

Tim the owner in plaid. Bike shop Jamie was there, too. 

Randy, Josh and Dan all say a BIG HI to Preston.

At PMW, Dan told me that his son (E-9) Jon's  USAF flight to A'stan was cancelled enroute so he was headed back to Wright-Pat with a fuel leak.  Jon was called back to service in 2001 and hasn't left.  He is a senior flight engineer and is testing to became a drone pilot.




Jon's missions are a "little" shorter duration than Preston's and a "little" safer too, I should think.  Evan's Franz is still sitting in the parking lot.    Getterdone Boys.

I left the shop to get out to the cabin, get the chickens fed and check out the water

Sdad at the cabin porch door.

levels in the new tanks.  All was well. I
manuevered the rear runoff pipe and
began to top off the middle tank.  Only 3
eggs today. The birds still stayed away
from me.  The temps were dropping and I got pretty wet working on the tanks.  I started a quick fire in the stove and had lunch as I did a Sodoku puzzle. Jack was cold and wet and whined to come in with me.  He loves the stove as much as Sam did.
I headed back to town and dropped off
Jack, stopping over at Meyer's to give
them some eggs.  They have just about
finished a redo of their back room and
kitchen.  After a quick visit, I was off to
pick up Spencer from school. We then
stopped off at the bike shop to kill 50
minutes or so before his dental checkup.
Harley Molebash was in today.  Harley is
75 yo.  An Eastend contemporary of Bro
OGene, they were on the HS track team
and shared a love of fast cars.  Harley is
still a daily biker and rides with the Roadies often, but does most of his miles solo. He is such a character... he deserves his own post on this blog.

Spencer had a good dental report.  BUT, we are going to be installing some braces soon.
That's five for five in the orthodontia area.
My five sons!

Two '37 Harleys with my Big Wheel in the background. 

Happy in the rain, even if recess was inside. 

Another Starwars Lego creation.

Cmom had a meeting to attend this evening so Spencer and I were on our own for dinner. We considered going to C'ville for Chinese but instead opted for tomato soup and grilled cheese.  I found a new recipe for hearty tomato soup.   Needing a few ingredients, I rode my town bike (in the rain) over to Bag N Bust but forgot my camera.

Paul P and Connie Sue

Spencer and I enjoyed the meal. He finished his homework and we read for an hour.
                                                               It was a great day in the rain. I hope Preston enjoys this report of it.

Tanks a lot!

Tuesday March 8, '11

Mon 7th:  Out early after work with Spencer to school and then to work on the door at the bike shop. Three hours later and two visits to hardwares and PMW for bench work, the door works well.  I lunched at the Temple as I had a few things to do there and then headed for the cabin (5 eggs).   I was able to set and level the three water tanks with Evan's help at the end.  On Saturday I had jerry-rigged the spouts to catch about 2/3 of a tankful as the rains were steady and certain. Lots of weight to deal with though. The enclosure for the solar gain will be decided as I watch the tanks fill this week with the predicted 2-3 inches rain yet to come. BTW, Ev got his Westy, Franz, out. He broke his slider door handle so I gave him the one off the spare parts van.  Franz is now at PMW for a few touch up issues before our planned outing in KY at the end of the month.  Also at PMW, the '02 Jetta wagon is shaping up nicely as Randy (working on the side, literally and figuratively) finishes the body work and preps it for painting.  Easy evening at home. Cub Scouts tomorrow night.


Tuesday 8th:  Out to the cabin by 1000.  I came into sight of the coop and looked twice to see a Barred Rock hen laying in a laying box... What else would she be doing there?

She was dead. No egg under her, but her egg track was littered with partials.  No signs of trauma. She was one of the bigger hens with no "picking" patches from the other birds. A real beauty she was.
The others did not come into the coop as they usually do when I tend to them.   I even had some smelly bacon made into bits (these birds LOVE cooked meat) from Sunday's breakfast that I had forgotten to feed yesterday.  They stayed clear of me and the coop for the three hours that I was out working on the water system. Maybe they were grieving.  Only 2 eggs today.

With the tanks in place I plumbed the three together with a 2" common manifold at the bottom.  This should allow the tanks to fill and drain collectively.  I also checked with Harold (another Navy black shoe officer) at Madru's about the head capacity of my current pressure pump.  All is well and should be capable of the lift and run needed for the new tank location.  I also ran new piping from the rear rain gutter/filter.  I will play with the drop and run off from the front gutters before I pipe anything permanent there; probably using garden hoses to judge those qualities.

I headed into townand home after a lunch of spiced up Ramen® noodles and a Sam A.  The two Rottweilers had come down and visited Jack and I for about the last hour, meaning that Fred was at his place.  He stopped discing the road side field as I pulled in.  We discussed the probable cause of death as we both inspected her carcass.   I disposed of the hen in the creek, as I wasn't sure of how long she had been dead; otherwise she would have been noodle stock.

In town,  I hurried to change into my bike kit and take the tandem over to the bike shop.
My regular roadie was there for potential repair or replacement of that pesky rear rim.

It's split and according to the Athens Trek™ dealer, the model has been a Jonah.  We'll see if they replace it under warranty.  I quickly replaced the tire and wheel onto the bike and headed out South Paint Street.  I wanted to make it out to Brandon B's on Blain Highway for a gun shoot with some of our Two Unit guys.  I had missed the last big one and didn't want to miss this one.

Of note,  today was the first time that I have ever ridden "packing". The 357 Glock is light, the loaded magazine being heavier than the pistol. I kept them seperated, the gun in my Camel Bak® and the mag in my seat bag. That should have satisfied the intent of the gun carrying laws.


Bubble, bubble. Toil and trouble.
Couldn't keep my rear tire bead from rolling outward at pressure.
Kept bubbling out near the weak point on the rim.  I need to get this taken care of... it is affecting my miles!  After four tries to ride out SR 772, returning home each time to deflate and re-inflate the tire. I abandoned the ride at five miles and returned home for the Jetta.  I guess I should be glad for the 10 miles.

There were three other guys there and we shot up a bunch of ammo.  That Glock sure shoots straight! Tim W had his new (to him) AR15 and his Glock 9 mm small frame pistol.  Brandon had out a Colt style 45 "hog's leg" revolver and a pocket sized S&W 380 (?). They had already dispatched several temp targets so I caught up as they cracked open a beer.  I left early as it cooled down and I needed to get Spencer and I to Cub Scouts.

The Den meeting was a practice for next week's Pack meeting. They are going to put on a "Tall Tale" skit that two of the boys wrote last week.  Good times.

Sam with Simon on the right and Jack in the background.

Sam already losing weight.

I miss Sampson.  Parker offered to return Simon to us. I may ask Colleen about that, not too soon, though.

Sunday 03-06-2011

A whole week has passed since my last post.  Let's see ...
Mon 28th: I worked, very heavy run volume. Two hours sleep throughout the night.

Tues  1st:  Heavy rain, I guess you'd call that "in like a lion"; 7 eggs, soggy coop;
studied SD when I could stay awake for tonight's 3rd degree at Blue Lodge; JS Evan cooked hot/mild and hot/hot chili, it was good;  then home to bed by 1!

Spencer getting his ears lowered.

Wed  2nd: JC Payne and I went down to Stockdale to pick up the water tanks with his pickup and trailer.   New-to-farming Bob and his son, Mark,  have their hands full in a start-up farmstead on the poor grounds of SE Pike County.  Having gotten "turned around" (euphemism for l-o-s-t) we stopped off at Latina's, JCP's wife's cousin who has a Koi operation with several ponds. He had mentioned her on the way down and we ended up driving right by her home as we dead reckoned our way out of the hills.  Looked over her setup a bit; but have lots of questions for her. I'll have to make a point of picking her brain.  She said absolutely NO to vinyl roofing material for liners.



After many hours and days of disturbing consternation we did a hard thing this afternoon.
Sad, sad day. We took Sampson, the standard Schnauzer, to the vet to be put down. His heavy breathing was the only thing keeping him alive. A constant huff seemed to be causing his heart to beat enough to perfuse, otherwise he had a heart rate of about 45-50... I need to talk to the vet about that.  Spencer, Colleen and I were with him, but it was a cold way to die, in my book.  I would have rather taken him to the cabin and spent a little time with him at his favorite place and then dispatched him myself.  My dog, my obligation.  A large stone covers his grave. I will turn in up and engrave on it (at Spencer's suggestion) when the grave subsides.  After the family settled in I went to the Legion and Keys.  Goodbye Sam, you were the best dog in the world; well, at least in my world.

Thurs 3rd: Bappy Hirthday Preston and Parker. 26 yo today!  It was 5 years ago but it seems like just yesterday that we were at the Keys celebrating your first legal Guinness™.  Preston starts his third month in A'stan.  He is spending more time outside of the FOB.  Spring will soon be there; as I understand it, Spring traditionally brings the bad guys out of their Winter respite.  Parker is back in Boston shooting the series for a rookie Celtic BBall player.  Thank you Gilt.   More rain and high water.  Runs at work are still heavy but I slept a little more (3.5hrs).
On the political news side, it looks like the new conservative (read Tea Bagger) Ohio senate is going to "throw the baby out with the bath water" in passing SB 5, "reforming" the public service union laws.  Reformation should NOT be destruction.

Fri  4th:  Preston called as I waited for an appointment at the doctor's office. He is well and will be promoted to XO of his Company.  He is keeping up with the family tradition as I served as XO when I was 26, too.  He posted some pics on FB.  I'll try to move a few over here.  Check them out if you get on FB.

Inside the cabin with a chili dog

Annual physical with good results, BP128/84, HR 58, weight 179, EKG like a 29 yo's; no need for additional meds ( "No, I don't need Cialis®. My pencil works fine, Doc; I just haven't got anybody to write to."); lab results next week.  I did "roll" that rib loading those water tanks though.  Bruised and yellow,  it makes sleep even harder to come by. " No, no Ambien® thank you." Dr Jennifer Sylvester is a treat to visit.  She didn't even try to get me to do a procto-scope this year.  I told her I would do it at 60... she protested at 57 and 58.  This year she must have acquiesced.

At the fire ring with a chili dog

David Thomas made Cincinnati chili at the cabin today.  It was VERY good.  We had a good turn out, especially considering all the rain.  Last week we held "Bonding Day" at Ben's house in town, as the rains had swollen the creek up and over the road at both ends of Polk Hollow.  This week Fred appeared to be totally insensitive to most of my FF friends as he showed his Tea Bagger-FoxTV-DittoHead-talk show attitude; it was sharply in contrast to the Brother Ferd that I knew before his stroke. I miss that Ferd.  He doesn't know whence he came.
After putting Spencer to bed, I went out to the cabin, braved the receding waters and checked on the chickens (6 eggs)  before JCP texted and I met him, Addie and Richard at the Cozy for a nightcap beer.  Tossing and turning with the rib notwithstanding,  I slept like a rock until 0830 Saturday morning!

Saturday 5th:  Rain set in all day and night; but it was a little warmer.  I had a good bit of work to do at the Temple early but after lunch Spencer and I set out for Old Worthington on the N side of C'bus to check out a Burley tandem I had seen FS on CraigsList.  Before getting out of town I had to stop at RiversBend to tend to a broken front door fixture.  I cobbed it and as the shop was closing and will be closed Sunday and Monday,  I put it off until then,  for, hopefully, a more permanent repair.

Our new "ride" needs a little TLC before we use it.

We tested the bike out in the rain and Gary, the PO, seemed a bit astonished when I said we would take it... "Now?"  I don't think he was really ready to part with it and its memories.  Gary had bought the bike about nine years earlier when his son was 8 or so. They used it alot until a few years ago when his son became disinterested in biking with dad.  He and his son had mainly used it as a weekender and on GOBA(look it up) trips.  One cool thing they did was to ride to King's Island and back with other dads and kids on tandems; making a 4-5 day trip of it, with a day at the amusement park for the kids.  

Happily, the tandem loaded easily onto my Jetta's roof rack and we proceeded to Bob's Bar to meet Ty and Scott Z.  Once there, we discovered Bob's "No one under 21" rule.  We picked up some gyros next door for the trip home.  " Dad, I don't want to eat lamb."
"Two gyros please, one beef, one lamb."  "They come mixed." "OK, two gyros, please."  The "mid-Eastern pasha" commenced to slowly and deliberately carve each portion of meat from the vertically spitted shanks of beef and lamb, and mixed each portion onto toasted pitas. I didn't tell Spenc about the mixture until after he said, "This beef tastes better than most."  Cherry tomatoes, anyone?

After dinner at Meyer's I went out to check on the birds (7eggs). The welfare chickens are working more!  They appear to be picking on one another. I may need to dust them for pests. On the way home I checked the Temple and saw Frank B Conaway at his canal warehouse walking in the rain around its perimeter.  I helped him search the premises.  It seems he's experiencing quite a few break-ins of an odd nature. The thieves are only taking personal, family items (not valuable, saleable, fencable items). So after taking Jack home I ventured out to meet FBC at the Keys for a complimentary ale.

Sun 6th: At work again, Sunday routine of a big breakfast.  Tim and Christy cooked as we ran and ran and ran. She served her first day as Acting Lt on the list.  We ran all day and into the night. Working a "code" around 1600.  "Code"because the pt was drinking at a veterans' club and had a syncopal episode when a by-stander started CPR. When we arrived I asked the man to stop CPR and I checked the pt for a pulse; he had one.  Chest compressions on a beating heart are NOT good!  The pt did have some heart issues and he very well may have passed out.  In his stupor, he was speaking to us as we offloaded him at the ER. He was UPSET that "someone" had cut his favorite shirt away.  If coherent he would have been an Ingrate! One run overnight... Yea!