Entry for September 25, 2006

Last week was a busy work week. I became fully involved in buying equipment and services for our BioDiesel project in Illinois. I was in the office most of the week by 6am and out by 5 or 5:30. Friday afternoon my boss told me I could leave early if I was caught up. Ha! Ha! I finally got caught up around 5.


Gin and I ran Friday evening at the church across the street. We made it 3 miles with a few rain drops for part of the run. We made it home and fixed some quick dinners and relaxed for a little while. Then we realized we needed to make the yard sale signs for Saturday, so much for getting to bed early. 11:30 rolled around and it was off to bed.

The next thing I knew it was 5:30 Saturday morning and time to get moving. It was nice to sleep in for a change. We started checking the local radar for the rain and moved the yard sale items to the porch. I had to make a few stakes to mount the signs and also make a clothes hanger using some rope, a pipe and one of the red maple trees. It was touch and go with the radar watch. There were scattered rain bands in the area. Jessica and Debbie showed up after 6:30 and started helping Gin with the set up. I hooked the trailer to the Blazer and loaded some sheets of plywood on the back for a table. I pulled the truck and trailer to the front and spread a tarp over the boards. Debbie set her wares on the makeshift table and I set 5 interior doors against the Blazer. The ladies were ready by 7:30 and I was instructed to place the signs. I also parked my car at the bottom of the driveway. I didn’t want to have a bunch of bargain hunters fighting over a prime parking spot, and also wanted to see expressions of people wondering who got the good parking spot but didn’t allow room for others to park.

People came and went like a hurricane sends in mist and downpours. Speaking of rain, we did get a brief rain shower that lasted about 15-20 minutes. We managed to get most of the items that need protection up on the porch. Then the sun came out for the rest of the day and everything was brought back to the yard. We sold all the interior doors, an old mantle, the elliptical trainer, a TV set and several walking sticks.

We met a couple that lived in our house over 20 years ago. We walked them through the house and heard some interesting stories of how things looked back then. The lady said she would drop off some pictures of the house from their time here. They said the side where our mud room is, used to be an open porch. The man said he used to sell miscellaneous used items in the long out-building and worked in the smaller building repairing cabinet hardware. They had the hard wood floors when they were here, so whoever lived here between them and us put down 2 layers of linoleum and a layer of carpet. They always wanted to finish the upstairs, but never acted on their intentions.

The yard sale ended around 2:30 and the cleaning up didn’t take too long. We loaded up the trailer and hauled the leftovers to the out-buildings. Patrick showed up just in time te help unload the trailer. He had to drop off a key to his old truck tool box which was being sold to a Mexican gentleman. We sat around and watched some college football while the ladies counted the loot. The ladies decided to make a trip to the outlet mall, Patrick and I continued with the football games. The Mexican showed up after 4:30 and Patrick left soon after that. This gave me the perfect opportunity to take a little nap on the couch. The nap lasted about a half hour when the ladies made it back home from the shopping expedition. Gin and I fixed a little dinner and got cleaned up for a trip to TCBY for a cup of yogurt.

Sunday morning I was up by 4:30 and back in bed by 5:30. I managed to sleep until after 8 which is unusual for me. We made our grocery list and hit the store before the crowds arrived. After getting back home I had two things to look at on each vehicle. The Blazer is not putting any heat out and the Lumina had a rattling noise under the hood. First I diagnosed the Lumina as needing a new belt tension pulley, minor procedure. The Blazer may have an obstruction at the heater core, major headache.

After looking at the cars we had lunch then headed out to Greenville to check out the Whole Foods Market. This place is a natural food market the size of any super size grocery store. They have a large salad and hot bar, fresh baked Italian food, seafood market, fresh bread bakery and large full service deli. They also had free sample displays throughout the store. We had smoked salmon salad, pita chips, fried cinnamon tortillas, vitamin-c drink, blue corn chips and protein bars.

We picked up the part for the Lumina on the way home and I installed it in less than 15 minutes. Gin started cooking the ground turkey for my pot of chili and I mixed in the beans, corn, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and chili powder. I relieved Gin at the stove and finished cooking the ground turkey and turkey sausage. Once the crock pot was full, it was just a matter of time, temperature and stirring to have it ready for lunch on Monday. We spent the rest of the evening reading and watching a police drama.

Other than that, we didn’t really do much this weekend.

P@

Entry for September 18, 2006

Last week Gin and I managed to run Tuesday through Saturday. The break in the weather makes it a little easier to get moving. Gin is up to 3 miles a day and has been for the last few weeks. Her pace is slow and steady, but at least she is out there. I tend to run a little faster than necessary and have been working on pacing myself to last longer distances. I managed to get two 3 mile runs complete without too much trouble. I have also been including about an hour of strength training and abdominal workouts 3 days a week.

Saturday I set up some used items by the road for sale. We have 5 interior doors given to us by the people Gin used to baby sit for. I also set out our old stove/range unit, a kitchen sing (never used), two ceiling fans and Patrick’s toolbox for a small pickup truck. We had a few nibbles but no takers. While I was waiting for someone to stop by and buy, I cut down the overgrown bush on the south side of the house. I finally brought all the merchandise in around 5. We went to Wendy’s for a deli sandwich and then to Patrick’s to pick-up the lawnmower. Patrick was getting ready for a party with some friends to watch the FSU/Clemson game. After we returned home we managed to get our nightly run complete before dark.

Sunday I was out of the house by 8 to cut the front lawn before I put my wares out for display. Next I set all the merchandise out for sale again. Finally someone bought the stove for $70. The rest of it had to be hauled back in, again. We drove back over to Patrick’s to pick-up the yard sale items for next weekend. We loaded up the Blazer and the trailer with boxes of stuff. Back home, Gin made room in the dining room for the load of stuff and packed it in so it didn’t take up too much space. I finished cutting the back yard before dark. Dinner was leftovers from several lunches ago. Gin was in the kitchen preparing a batch of chicken, pasta and cheese for the weekly lunch meals.

P@

Entry for September 11, 2006

The busy weekend started out with a high school football game Friday night. Gin and I attended the Blue Ridge HS vs. Travelers Rest HS game. My co-worker Nikki’s son Jerrel is a wide receiver for the Travelers Rest team. We arrived just before kick-off and parked in a church parking lot behind the school. The game is played every year as “The Battle For The Jug”, in which the winner of the game gets a large ceramic jug painted half Blue Ridge colors half Travelers Rest colors. The game itself was over within the first 10 minutes. Blue Ridge picked up 4 fumbles in a row and turned them into touchdowns within a few plays each. Travelers Rest was facing a 28-0 score with 8 minutes left in the first half. They managed to pull together enough to score one touch down before half time but that was too little too late. The Blue Ridge team was dominating from the beginning. Jerrel played well, but was no match for the speed of the Blue Ridge defense. We did enjoy sitting with Nikki and hearing her yell at people for one reason or another.

Saturday we dropped off the lawn mower at Patrick’s house for his use. After visiting with Jessica for a few minutes we went to the mall to check out the sporting supply stores. Saturday night we attended the Jonathan Byrd concert at the Unitarian church in Greenville. There were about 30 people in attendance in the small social hall for the show. He started out good with a few brain farts where he forgot his place on a few songs. He sang our favorite Matt Fockler tune and several JB classics.The last song of the night was a tribute to the one person who never receives any recognition for the hard work at festivals and fairs, the “Porta-Potty-Man”. We laughed so hard we had tears. The lyrics were cleverly crafted to utilize every pun and innuendo known to man. We made it home around 11pm and were in bed by 11:30 knowing we had an early day planned for Sunday.

Sunday we were up by 5am and out of the house around 6:30 headed for the western NC Mountains and a rafting trip. We made it to the Appalachian Rivers Rafting Co. around 9am and met up with Caris, Thomas and his family plus several co-workers of mine. Jon Leuschel provides a free guided trip down the Nantahala River every year for family and friends. We loaded up a trailer full of rafts and put-in around 10:30. The weather was sunny and clear with temps in the mid 70’s. The water was like ice but eventually became comfortably numb. John Hahn guided a raft with his wife Debbie, Gin, Nikki Dodd and yours-truly. We pulled off several times for breaks and stretching along the way. The entire trip took us about 3 hours to complete. At the end of the run is Little Wesser Falls which drops off pretty fast and rough. I was thrown to the floor of our raft when we hit the bottom of the falls (no damage done). After all the rafts were put away Gin and I joined my co-workers for a meal at the River’s End Café.

P@

Entry for September 05, 2006

Earlier last week I received an email from WNCW radio informing me that I won 2 tickets to the Friday night Bruce Cockburn (Co-Burn) show in Asheville. Bruce Cockburn has been around the small time coffee bar circuits for about 25 years. I’m not too familiar with his music but decided to enter the contest anyway. I figure it is better to get free tickets and not waste money on someone we may not like.

We left home around 6:15 Friday night heading for Asheville. Our thought was to get there early enough to get dinner and make it to the concert hall by 8 when the doors open. The first mistake was forgetting that it was the beginning of the Labor Day weekend and the interstate would be bumper to bumper. We were about 10 miles from Asheville when we slowed to a crawl. You know when you think about getting off the interstate to avoid the heavy traffic; well I should have taken the first exit when it first slowed down. We finally made it to Asheville around 7:30 and found a place to eat one block from the concert hall. Gin and I split a pulled pork BBQ sandwich and a smoked turkey wrap at a Cajun theme restaurant.

We finished dinner around 8:15 and walked down to the concert hall. There were about 20 people waiting in line to pick up their tickets at the will call window. We figured we were still early enough to get a seat. When we finally entered the building we realized we underestimated the draw this concert would have. There was not an empty seat in the place. We lasted through 40 minutes of waiting for the show to start and listened to 4 songs before we decided to leave. My days of standing for an entire concert left me 25 years ago. The music was good but not good enough to keep me there on my feet. Hey, it was a free show for us, so leaving early didn’t bother us at all.

Saturday morning I started working upstairs on the driveway side windows. I wasn’t sure how I was going to work the outside part, so I just winged it the entire day. I removed the old windows from upstairs using a crow bar and hammer. They came out fairly easy. Next I trimmed out the area for the replacement windows. New framing was installed to support the new windows and attached to the existing frame work. Gin helped me set each window in place with no major problems in their fit. All the work was done from the upstairs without the need to climb a ladder.

Sunday was a day of recovery (sort of). We made it to the hardware store and grocery store in the morning. After lunch and a nap I cut the grass and trimmed a few low hanging branches. We went for our evening run between rain storms.

Monday was another slow day. We made our running trek late in the morning since we were expecting storms later in the day. We were correct in deciding to run early, since we had three storms come through in the afternoon and evening. I helped Gin hang her new Roman blinds on the French doors and kitchen window. She made the curtains last week during her free time. The curtains look good and will help with shading the kitchen and dining room in the morning.

P@