Orange Alert

Bin a while.

2010-11-26T11:30:00.000-08:00

Haven't blogged in about a month, can't really give any reason other than laziness.

I have been working hard on the townhouse but it's mostly been boring mechanical stuff, no real changes to be seen.

Have been working hard on HVAC stuff. Ran new duct-work into the small front bedroom, and the new master bath. Repaired a lot of other ducts including the one that fed the dining room (when my brilliant BIL installed the new laminate floor he just covered over the duct.) Moved the main air return from the living room to the dining room (I didn't like where it was) and added a return vent for the second floor. Believe it or not but the furnace didn't have a filter so I added one of those.

Mostly finished the plumbing and electrical rough in, just a few little things to do like runs for ceiling fans and dishwasher.

We are close to being ready for drywall and coming to end of the first phase of work. Then I will start posting pictures again.

I need more money and time so anyone who has extra of either please send it my way.

Squirrel Porn

2010-10-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

One night Mary and I were coming home from the casino and she saw a sign that said "squirrel corn." Well I thought she said squirrel porn so I naturally said wtf is squirrel porn? We got a good laugh out of it and every time we drove past the place that sold squirrel corn we would laugh again. We used to laugh a lot.

Well tonight I drove past that place and I laughed and I had good memories about Mary for the first time in a long time. So that gives me a little bit of hope that someday I can forget about the way she has treated me and get past it all. It's gonna take a loooooooonnnnnnggggg time but maybe someday I'll get there.

A Confession.

2010-10-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make.

When I was young I was a Democrat. I voted for Jimmy Carter, I was even a precinct committeeman for a couple years.

I know, I know, please don't hate me. I was young and stupid and under the influence of the Warrens.

But there is good news. I grew up, got smarter and changed into a Republican. I can proudly say I voted for Ronald Regan.

Haunting memory

2010-10-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

When I was young I used to drive all over central Indiana fixing copiers. I knew where all the best places were to take a pee and use the payphone. The Ramada Inn at the airport was one of those go-too places.

This is what happened to it.

From the Indy Star today..

I used to spend a lot of time in that lobby and was in it a couple days before. The accident haunted me for years and I still get chills when I drive by the spot where the hotel once stood.

This Star article brought back those memories.

Floors, plumbing and scammers.

2010-10-06T05:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry haven't blogged for a couple weeks. Haven't talked with Mary in two months not even a text in over a month and the townhouse has been nothing but repairing floors and DWV plumbing. Not very exciting stuff.

I got one of those I'm stuck in Europe please help me emails and decided to have a little fun.

-----Original Message-----
From: Julie French
To: undisclosed recipients: ;
Sent: Wed, Oct 6, 2010 7:14 am
Subject: urgent help needed...from julie

Hello! I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my trip ... I'm currently in London, on a short vacation as I write this ... what happened today is unbelievable, and now I am stuck here. I got mugged at gun point on my way to the hotel and my money, credit cards, phone and other valuables were stolen. Thank God they did not take my passport. I urgently need your help. I JUST NEED $1,700 TO SORT OUT MY HOTEL BILLS AND I promise to pay you back once I get home. I do have cash in my account, but I can't access it right now because I had to cancel all my credit cards that were stolen!! I'm sending this from a free internet connection at the public library. I will be forever grateful if you can help me. Please respond quickly, as my flight leaves in a few hours and I need to pay my hotel bill. __ Julie

From: indysam@xxx.com Subject: Re: urgent help needed...from julie

Then life sucks for you.

Seriously FUCK OFF!

OMG.. I know that this sound weird to you because of scam going Around now, But you have nothing to worry about because you are sending the money to my name as we both know i will need some kinda verification before i can pick up the money,how much can you afford right now,i am freaked out at the moment,kindly let me know so that i can give you the info you need to wired the money to me here and i promise to refund it back as soon as I'm back home. __ Julie

From: indysam@xxx.com Subject: Re: urgent help needed...from julie

I can afford enough for you to buy a bullet. Can you borrow a gun and shoot yourself in the head? People like you who prey on peoples good will and love are the worst kind of scum.

No further response from Julie.

Holy situation.

2010-09-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

Floor, floor, floor, every time we work we are repairing bad floors.

The leaking bathroom upstairs caused by the bad support of the floor joist created a cancer that's affected the floors on both levels. I knew that we would be replacing flooring but I had no idea how much.

The good news is that we have gotten pretty good at tearing out bad flooring. One more spot in the living room and we should have all the cancer removed.

More good news, I got $299 for all the scrap copper pipes that will go a long way towards paying for the new piping.

Today (besides fixing floors) we put up the new walls for the half bath on the first floor including a sweet wet wall. Finally turning the corner from demo to new construction.

Finaly New Wood

2010-09-11T16:13:00.000-07:00

Finally after doing nothing but tearing out stuff we finally got some building done.

We setup a temporary support wall to hold up the second floor and then removed what was left of the old load-bearing wall. Then we secured our new 2x10 beam on the good side by the stairway and used a bottle jack to lift the beam in the middle.

When the beam was level we had brought up the bad side of the second floor almost an inch and made it level with the other part of the wall.

Those beams were so poorly supported I'm surprised the second floor hadn't come crashing down. But now we have nice solid support and the space is opened up nicely just like we wanted.

Speaking of the second floor, we got the sub floor fixed and can walk upstairs again without worrying about falling through a big hole.

We also tore out all of the old DWV and water supply pipes. Had a bit of a nasty surprise (besides Tim's shower in old sewage) the main stack took an unexpected turn and that will complicated my design for the master bath. Just some of the fun of renovation.

I got's mad skills

2010-09-06T10:34:00.001-07:00

Lemons into lemonade

2010-09-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

So I was all excite to start finally building something instead of just doing demolition. The plan was to build a temporary supporting wall and then install the new header that will hold up the second floor. Then we can start on floor repairs.

Tim met me over at Lowe's and we picked up some 2x4's and 2x10's and headed over to the townhouse. I open the front door and I don't hear the alarm chirping. I soon discovered that we had no electricity. I call Casey and find out that he hasn't paid the electric bill in a couple months. Lovely, all my plans shot too hell, a three day weekend wasted. I was so pissed!

But then my mind started thinking, hmmm IPL has shut off the power to the house. I can now change out the breaker box!

The breaker box was always going to be a problem. It's an old fuse type box that's too small and too messed up. I have the skills to replace it but the electric company kind of frowns on DIY'ers doing that kind of project. To come out and disconnect and then reconnect the power they require a licensed electritian to come out and at least inspect the job. This was going to cost me.

But now the power is turned off and I can replace the box and then have it reconnected in my name and nobody will know the box has been changed (unless they read this blog.)

You ask for miracles, Theo.... I give you the IPL

Sometimes My Mind Wanders

2010-09-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

I'll be doing something and it will trigger a memory or a thought train that just takes off. That's where the name for this blog comes from. I guess I'll have to post that sometime but that's not what this blog is about.

I was working on my printer, replacing an encoder buried deep in the carriage assembly. I had to do it totally blind by feel because the damn engineers who design thinks never think about servicing them.

That got my mind wandering about something else I did totally by feel over thirty years ago, feel up my first girl. It's one of those things you only get to experience once.

Now you have to understand that in the 70's there was no way for a young man to learn about this part of the female anatomy. All we had were glimpses in stolen Playboys and back then they didn't show much and what they did was covered with hair. If you were lucky you found a Hustler magazine but on the east side of Indy these were rare indeed. So the only knowledge of that part of a female was learned from the instruction sheet from your sisters tampon box.

I had taken my girlfriend to a concert, I don't even remember what the band was (Cheep Trick or Sanatana or some group like that.) After the show we went parking. I parked my 1973 Ford station wagon with the big bench seat and we slid together and started to make out. After exploring second base for a while I went for it and she didn't stop me.

I unzipped her jeans and started to move my hand into position. Now trying to feel something with those tight pants in the way was close to impossible. So I coolly started to work her pants down a bit. Now I though I was a magician but looking back I never would have acquired the necessary hand room without her aid.

With that barrier out of the way I started searching for the glory hole but all I found was a maze of flaps and skin and hair, what the fuck was this shit? But I endeavored to persevere and eventually found my way to the spot. I would like to think that she enjoyed it but I imagine she just tolerated it in hope that it would get better.

Those memories, that search, the discovery, all that stuff is engraved in my mind and is a memory I cherish. It was magical, fun and very exciting. Seeing those part later up close in the light of day was also a wonderful experience.

I wonder if the first time is ruined for young men nowadays? I mean by the first time they feel up a girl they have seen all the parts in graphic detail. They have seen what goes where and how. It cant be the same for them. Has the internet robbed them of the joy of discovery that I had?

Special thanks to Lisa. I will never forget you and your young perfect body.

Another Lost Love

2010-08-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

Made cinnamon toast this morning. God it was good.

I can't tell you the last time I made it, it's been years. I don't know why I stopped.

I can't even blame this one on Mary.

I guess I'll chock it up to laziness.

New woman in my life

2010-08-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

Yes there's a new girl in my life.

When I came home Monday evening there she was. She came up to me and laid down at my feet and looked up at me with that pretty little face.

I took her in the house and introduced her too the pack. They didn't seam to mind and she acted like she was home. She is a sweet loving thing and she loves to play. She didn't have a collar and we took her to the vet and she doesn't have a chip.

I guess she is ours unless we can find the owner. I really don't want too but I know if she was my lost dog I would be heartbroken so we'll keep on trying.

At first we thought she was a chihuahua and we were trying to come up with a good Hispanic name but I couldn't find one that I liked. Then the lady at the vet said she was a toy fox terrier. Fatty had earlier suggested that we call her Aniston, Ani for short, but that didn't seam to fit a chihuahua well but it does fit a terrier so Aniston it is.

I never had a little dog before, I didn't think I would like it but Ani is just a joy and has changed my mind.

First weekend done

2010-08-24T06:06:00.000-07:00

Well I survived my anniversary just fine with the help of good friends, special thanks to Angie for keeping me sane with her drunk texts Friday night.

First weekend of demo went great. Found a few surprises.

It was scary how little support there was holding up the middle of the second floor joists. Just a double header of 2x4's and a stud wall. You can see how much the floor is sagging. Now I can see why there was constant problems with the bathtub leaking. We are going to have to jack up the floor and put up in real header supported by posts on each end. This will provide the needed support and open up the space the way we want.

Good news is after we took out the closet walls and the drywall from the dividing wall the space opens up nicely and we will not need to move the powder room. This will save a bunch of time and money.

OMG FLEAS! Round IV

2010-08-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

Well the war is basically over. Just have to get rid of the remaining stragglers and hold outs.

Started Demo today. You can really start to see how this space is going to be totally changed.

Lots and lots of work to do but at least we have finally started.

27 years

2010-08-19T16:32:00.002-07:00

27 years ago I stood and married a sweet young girl who was the light of my life. It's almost impossible for me too sum up my feelings on this day but Gordon Lightfoot did an absolutely perfect job for me.

If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
'Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong,
With chains upon my feet.
You know that ghost is me.

And I will never be set free
As long as I'm a ghost that you can't see.
                            
If I could read your mind, love,
What a tale your thoughts could tell.
Just like a paperback novel,
The kind the drugstores sell.

Then you reached the part where the heartaches come,
The hero would be me.
But heroes often fail,

And you won't read that book again
Because the ending's just too hard to take!
                            
I'd walk away like a movie star
Who gets burned in a three way script.
Enter number two:

A movie queen to play the scene
Of bringing all the good things out in me.

But for now, love, let's be real;

I never thought I could  feel this way
And I've got to say that I just don't get it.
I don't know where we went wrong,
But the feeling's gone
And I just can't get it back.


                            
If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
'Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong.
With chains upon my feet.
But stories always end,

And if you read between the lines,
You'd know that I'm just tryin' to understand
The feelin's that you lack.

I never thought I could feel this way
And I've got to say that I just don't get it.
I don't know where we went wrong,
But the feelin's gone
And I just can't get it back!

Strange morning.

2010-08-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 5:00 this morning from a weird dream. I won't go into the dream but it involved you-know-who and I getting back together for a strange reason and because I'm an incredibly nice and generous person, but you all already know that :)

I thought it was our anniversary and I became immediately depressed. All through my shower and morning routine I was very down. When I went downstairs and sat down at my computer I realized that tomorrow is my anniversary and I was immediately relived and OK.

How strange just because it wasn't my anniversary I had instant relief. Weird how the mind works. I need to remember that tomorrow when I wake up. In the grand scheme of things it should just be another day.

Somebody remind me of that tomorrow please.

OMG FLEAS! Round III

2010-08-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

So this visit yielded less fleas so we are winning but it's time to step up the battle again.

I interview people to clean the place out. Found two young men that I liked and hired. They are going to clean everything out, rip out the remaining carpet, power wash the basement and clean out all the junk and trash in the back yard and shed.

Then I'll spray bomb sweep, spray bomb sweep ........ 'till the little bastards are all gone.

OMG FLEAS! Round II

2010-08-17T19:24:00.001-07:00

Went back to the townhouse and the flea situation is not mush better.

First battle of the war seams to have gone to them but I'm fighting back with a bunch of vacuuming, spraying and another round of bombing. Take that fuckers!

Got to get this under control before we can get into serious demolition.

OMG FLEAS!

2010-08-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

Casey is out of the townhouse and we went over to check it out. When we left our legs were covered with fleas. Not a few fleas a bunch, unfucking believable!

Gonna have to call in an exterminator, don't think over the counter cures are going to work. We need the nuclear option.

Other than that grotesque find the place is cleaned out fairly well. Gonna be a bunch of work but you can see the potential.

My baby is Gone

2010-08-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

My baby is Gone, she drove out of the garage and down Dale hollow Drive for the last time.

I found her on Ebay a little of 8 years ago, an original 1978 Ford Fairmont Futura, one owner with only 32000 miles. The car was in California, she was literally owned by a little old man who only drove her on Sundays. The car had been sitting for four years and the old man had died. He had donated his estate to his church and they were selling it.

I had lots of frequent flier miles so I got Nick and I tickets (round trip just in case) and we jetted off to San Jose to pick her up. We took a cab and picked it up and headed on home. Our first stop was Reno

Nick in the hotel garage.

We had been having trouble with overheating so a quick stop at the NAPA store and we were off on the road again with a new radiator and hoses.

I remember coming out of the mountains and seeing the sun low in the sky over the salt flats of Utah. It was a breathtakingly beautiful sight with millions of shades of yellow and orange. I woke Nick up so he could see and he looked, mumbled and went back to sleep, obviously impressed.

We made it to Wyoming and a tire started making noise and then BAM, the front left tire exploded, dry rot had struck. Luckily the spare had air and we limped to a Walmart in Evanston Wyoming where we purchased four new tires and were mobile again.

After a lunch at McDonald in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming we got into the car put the key in the ignition and it wouldn't turn. The lock had failed. It cost $150 to get a locksmith to come out and fix it.

The rest of the trip was uneventful car wise, but at the time there was drought happening in that area. I remember the fires in the distance in Eastern Wyoming/Western Nebraska. I also remember seeing a huge dust cloud ahead that we were driving into and what looked like storm clouds. Turns out it was so dry out that the rain hitting the ground actually raised a cloud of dust, amazing.

We made it home without anything else remarkable happening. It was a wonderful adventure that Nick and I will never forget (probably for different reasons) a priceless father and son moment in time. I drove that car for three years and eventually parked it with the plan of someday rebuilding it.

I'm being forced to move and I have no place to store my baby anymore so I had to sell her. It's like another dream has been crushed and I literally cried as she drove away. I'll miss that car and what she represented but I'll always have the memories.

Tuseday

2010-08-10T05:52:00.000-07:00

Good morning it's a beautiful Tuesday morning (OK it's going to be 96 with massive humidity so not really.)

Casey is busy moving out of the townhouse and we should be able to start demo on Saturday. I really need to get in there and start swinging. I have been designing kitchen cabinets for about week now and am getting pretty close to the final design. We are going to make them ourselves. Plus I think we may do concrete counter tops. Should be fun. I will be sure and post pictures for everyone to see.

Gonna have dinner with my personal angel tonight and going to see my lawyer tomorrow evening.

Life moves on

5 months

Also new post in other blog.

To Protect the Guilty

2010-08-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

I started a new blog to place things that shouldn't be easily accessible to some.

To borrow a phrase from an old TV show "To Protect the Guilty"

This blog is for invitees only. If you would like to be invited, drop me an email.

scott4020@yahoo.com

Bunch of old people.

2010-08-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

So we went to the 10th Street Pub last night and a bunch of people started coming in. Turns out that the 30th reunion of WC class of 1980 was this weekend and some of them had just had a tour of the school.

I graduated in 79 and I didn't know any of these folks. A few of them remembered me and came up and said hi. I didn't have a clue who any of them are. And these people were all so old. I'm not that old, how did that happen?

Met a nice 28 year old couple, Tiffanie and Mike. Tiffanie was hot and from what I could tell wasn't wearing any underwear. Nice kids. Also met a 23 year old kid who I think we talked into going into culinary school, also I think Less told them it was our anniversary.

Another lost love

2010-08-01T18:00:00.001-07:00

I have discovered another lost love, golf. I used to play at least once a week, sometimes more. I gave it up because we couldn't afford such luxuries anymore. But looking back that was silly. Cutting back was the way to go, just stopping playing was wrong.

I first started playing with Mary's grandmother Wilma. We would play a nice nine hole course called Arrowhead. She taught me all about the etiquette and just plain joy of the game.

Recently Wilma has been suffering from dementia and has been placed in a nursing home. This got me to thinking of the fun times we had together, just her and I and that got me thinking about golf.

When I was young I used to just play by myself. I would show up at Pleasant Run, Salms or Arrowhead and get put in foursomes with random people. That was as much fun as playing because I would meat so many interesting people on the golf course . The other thing was I would always walk. I actually got exercise.

Patrick likes to play and it's great spending time on the course with him. I think I am going to make this a major part of our father/son relationship. Maybe when Nick get's out of the Navy he can play with us too. In the mean time it's fun to play with my pseudo sons Chris, Daniel and Greigh.

Sigh

2010-07-29T19:16:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a short one.

Mary came over to talk tonight. Pretty sure that things are over and that makes me very sad.

I don't want it to be so. Can anyone tell me why? After everything I still don't want it to be so. Guess I'm just stupid.

Rediscovered an old love lately

2010-07-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

Reading, it has been so many years since I relly did any reading. Now don't get me wrong I read every day but it's always something technical or hobby related. I love to read about computers, robotics, guns, cars, poker, trains both model and real, aviation..... you get the idea.

I used to read a lot of books. Mostly science fiction and fantasy stuff. I have boxes of books from the old days but I haven't read anything fictional for years.

Since Mary left, I have started reading again. Can you believe that I can actually not sit in front of the TV or computer and I don't die, who knew?

I have started with some old favorites but I intend to branch out into other things.

Hello my old love, I have missed you.

Back agin

2010-07-27T17:51:00.001-07:00

Wow I created this blog 2 years ago and never used it. Time for a change?

So much is different so much has changed in my life it would take a 20,000 word blog to explain it all.

Bullet points....

1. Mary and I are separated (not my choice)
2. I have a new job (by choice.)
3. I will be moving soon (again not my choice) into my old condo that needs a lot of work (and money.)

These are three simple but complicated things that I will endeavor to explore in this space. I don't know if it will be a cathartic thing or just for posterity, we'll see.

I also try and post random thoughts and memories that I find interesting but others may not.

Stay tuned.

Random thought. I can't spell but through the wonders of computers it can be fixed. Sometimes words that I constantly spell incorrectly come up in weird ways. Today's word is explain. When I spell it and then click on it it always comes up enplane . This makes me laugh.

New day

2008-05-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

My body is strange, weighed in this morning at 263.5, six pounds less than yesterday. Most of that has to be water, and a cheep scale.

If I could loose six pounds a day I would be under 200lbs in less that two weeks!

We'll see what tomorrow morning brings.

My oldest son Nick got home from the Navy today. He has a little more than a month before he has to report to his next boat. He will be joining the USS Nevada in Bangor Washington. For some reason the boat is in dry dock. I can't find anything online about it, it was refitted with the newer missiles and refueled in 2002 so that's not why it is there, strange. He is not to thrilled about joining a dry docked crew. Hopefully he can get a chance to cruise with one of the other boats there in Bangor so he can compete his certification

New Blog

2008-05-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

So I weighed myself this morning and hit 269.5!

That's way to close to 270 for comfort, maybe it's time for me to loose a couple pounds don't you think? So why not start a blog to track my progress? Also I need a place to write the strange thoughts that come to my age addled mind before I forget them.

I decided to call it Orange Alert because that is what my health level is. My mom is a type 1 diabetic and my brother is type 2 I would prefer not to join them. Also I have had a few bouts with acid reflux in the past couple months and that also a bad sign. So here we go.....

Day 1. So why is it that when you start a diet you are always hungrier than you should be? Just the thought of a diet makes me hungry.