Screw Styx...Let's Eat!

I had more concert pics and stories, but enough is enough.
Who cares?


Something I learnt at the rodeo:
When I posted this photo of my bacon-wrapped hotdogs on FaceBook a friend came right back with "sausage wrapped with ham and then bacon", and called it the "whole-hog dog".
Damn!
I'm going to keep taking baby steps on this stuff.


The main course was some seriously great burgers.
It was windy and they were smoking, and I doubt I'll ever take (or even see) a better photo of a grill.

Random Stuff

While waiting for the plumbers today, I took apart our old cordless house phone.
We've been cell-only for a long time, and it was a POS anyway, so I was collecting screws and spare parts from the base unit (got some good stuff).
Then I noticed that the adjustable external antenna didn't even have a wire up the middle, so I'm guessing that the two spirals of wire with the foam are the new antenna protocol.
And by new I mean 2003 as opposed to 2000:



This is my new grill--a Christmas present from Sylvia:
It's the one I wanted, and after a few meals has proven to be the perfect grill for us in both size and features. Easy to clean, doesn't take up much room, LOVE it!
Best part is that my brother assembled it for me on Christmas Day so I could concentrate on getting the house ready for our party later that night.
If you look at this post from August you can read about the end of my old BBQ, as well as my newest bass. I got a case for that bass for Christmas, too.
Awesome.


Last week we went to Holly's to take pictures of her horses.
I have a bunch of stuff to work on from that shoot, but it'll have to wait until I can get my computer fixed. As I mentioned last time, this spare one doesn't have PhotoShop and in fact can barely handle the internet, so my more important (to me) photography will have to wait a while longer.
In fact, besides the horses I have a few other shoots sitting patiently.

While at Holly's I took the opportunity to sight-in my .22 and shoot a group to check for accuracy after all the recent work I've done to it:
That's 3 shots into one ragged hole at 30 yards.
Center-to-center this measured out to 0.157" according to my calipers, which is extremely good for the same gun with a heavy aftermarket target barrel, let alone a 25 year old thin factory one like mine.
And I'm still not done tweaking this gun!
Very glad to finally have proof that I'm on the right track.


Oh, and the plumbers did a great job so far, with high hopes for complete success when they find the right parts and return.
The leaky faucets are now dry, and the most-corroded metal drain pipes have been replaced with PVC.
Plus, my home-brewed fixes were approved by an expert.


No promises as far as how long you'll have to wait for another post, but I'm 72.2% more optimistic than I was just yesterday.
Oh yeah--Happy New Year!

Wasps and New Bass Day

It's Our Turn!
For twice-yearly brush and oversized trash pickup, that is.

Yesterday I put out some tree clippings and our old grill.
The BBQ was someone else's gas-type that had been left to rot until all of the burners had rusted to dust. It was given to me and with my brother's welding help I converted it to use charcoal--served us well for many years.
But we decided that it's time for a nice new one--smaller, cleaner, and the kind I want instead of the one I just happened to end up with.

Now, I knew there were wasp nests in it and under it.
In fact, when I rolled it off the patio, the little thump when it dropped an inch off the slab seemed to anger the flying and stinging pricks.
I was soon able to resume my journey around the house, and despite some banging at the fence gate and a few impacts while rolling over exposed roots I got it to the corner of our yard without getting stung.
This is good, because I'm kind of allergic. One Yellow Jacket sting will lay me out for a solid week.

Not 15 minutes later I heard a loud bang/rattle/clank from the front yard and peeked out the window:
The grill was as you see it, in the street, dragged over the curb by a guy who was already running across the neighbor's yard while waving his arms and slapping at his neck and arms and legs!
I couldn't stop watching this dude performing his version of St. Vitus's Dance, twisting and turning, running and slapping, stopping and spinning, crouching and jumping--it was quite the show!

Eventually he made it back to his Suburban, which was parked just to the right of my BBQ with it's back doors open.
After a few false starts and some bonus stings, he finally got in and drove three houses down the street before stopping to close the doors.

By this time I was able to stop laughing and get a camera to shoot a parting shot as he got the hell out of Dodge:
Yes, that's a Winnie The Pooh mailbox flag.

At first I felt guilty for not killing the wasps first, but at the time it just hadn't occurred to me.
Then I got mad because I had to go out there and spray those jerks three times, risking multiple stings and the loss of a productive week or two.
But when I went to get the grill back out of the street it was gone!
Not my problem anymore.

Sylvia said "Serves him right for digging in people's trash".


That was yesterday, this is today:


UPS brought my new bass this afternoon, and I really like it.
Plays good, sounds good, and is very pretty in a dark and smoky way.
The quiled maple is sexy, as is the satin chrome hardware.
It's the 4-string (normal?) version of my decidedly abnormal 8-string, so I feel right at home playing her already.
Thanks for the donations, Sylvia, Selma and Josie!

Is it bad that I've still got the hots for a guitar I saw last Saturday?
It's a steal, so I can always sell it at a profit.
A smart investment, right?