Home Improvements

Now that the office has been moved to the downstairs floor of my house, it seemed neccessary to do some outside "yard work" to spruce things up for when clients came over.

The stucco is rather ... dingy.

A fresh coat of paint goes a long way.

The paver edging was in need of relaying and straightening. Rough on the tender "keyboarder's hands"!

I think the results were worth the couple hours in the hot sun.

The other end of the house was a jungle of weeds and rotted landscaping ties. I pulled out all the rot first and then weeded out the jungle.

Another shot of the end of house "flower bed".

The downspout was leaking and water was getting on the porch and into the garage.

More dingy stucco - the dirt is from the stump grinder that removed an old stump that was under the drain pipe here.

A new drain pipe to move the rain water away from the house. I got a pile of dirt to do some back filling - but it was 92 degrees F and equally humid - so that waits until a day comes that I won't get heat stroke moving dirt!

A gallon of white stucco paint makes such an improvement!

Another view.

The gutter had a leak right over the steps from the driveway to the front door - when the leaked water froze over the steps were "tricky" - we don't need any clients falling on the steps here! I never rode a bucket before - and now I never want to do that again!

I decided to dig a trench to help the drainage around the back porch - hot and humid meant taking it slow.

Repairs to the down spouting after the tree stump was removed. Some more white stucco painting when on...

The day lilies never bloomed before - they were buried in the jungle of weeds.

The new trench with gravel fill. We had a massive thunderstorm last night, and the gravel remained bone dry as did the porch!

I plan to paint the woodwork soon.

There is a lot more to do, but its coming along.

The Office Move Is Over

The old office a couple days before settlement was nearly empty. The day before settlement, we got 10 inches of snow. Fortunately, I had spent the weekend prior to that moving the remaining "big and heavy" items! I was and am also tremendously grateful for the kindness of the one of the old office neighbors that helped clear the snow from the parking lot and walkways on the day of settlement - making the "walk through" go very smoothly. He is a gem and a real gentleman.

The books all moved, weeded out, sorted and arranged on shelves.

The provisioning of the phones and Internet services went smoothly even though there was 5 inches of muddy slushy snow on the ground. Verizon gets an A+ for this.

The servers were in a rack but the rack was too tall to fit on in this room (being 8 feet 4 inches tall. So I placed the servers on a mobile cart. I think this arrangement actually works better since I can push the cart away from the wall to get at the wiring behind the servers.

The new phone lines (voice and fax) went in seamlessly, and the new Internet connection was quickly "configured" for the new IP addresses.

One of the moving days was hampered by a 1/4 inch glaze of "black ice". Oh joy! No injuries to man or cargo occurred though.

After the "sorting through" all the all stuff, I actually ended up with a bunch of empty shelves. No fear, we will fill them soon! I raised the painting about 8 inches - and hung a lot of the other "artwork" so the new office seems more comfortable. The blue lighted gizmos on top are routers and computer backup devices.

UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supplies) getting tested - the last time I tested some of them was 2007. 4 of the 5 still work properly. These things have lead batteries in them and weight 20-30 pounds each and are a pain to move!

There are still some odds and ends to "find a home" for and some sorting, sifting and (hopefully throwing away) to do - mostly my unorganized brother's "stuff."

Two Little Girls Tired of Bread...

Far Side of Fifty spotted an old newspaper article in my mother's old photo display. The story tells of one of my mother's earliest childhood memories. The article is dated March 3, 1941.

Two Little Girls Tired of Bread After Five-Hour Walk With Loaf

There was no place like home for two little girls in Roxbury [a Boston, Massachusetts suburb] last night.

Walking may be enjoyable and bread may be good to eat, but 5-year-old Evelyn Belyea of 8 Kensington st., and her little pal, Lois Bush [my mother], 3, who lives next door, have learned the sad lesson that there can be too much of two good things.

When her mother sent her for a loaf of bread at 11:30 a.m., yesterday, Evelyn took her fox terrier, "Trixie" and called for Lois. After buying the bread, the youngsters decided that a walk would be "just the thing."

Their little legs carried the kiddies more than two miles, to Forest Hills, before protesting. The the two tired girls started the dreary trek homeward. Long before patrolman Daniel J. Crowe of the Jamaica Plain station sighted them at Egleston sq., about 4:30 p.m., and recognized them as "the missing kids," they had tired of their day-long diet of bread and felt the "prodigal's" proverbial yearning for fatted calf.

I wonder what's become of my mother's friend?

The advance of technology is relentless...

Yesterday, I started testing and learning Windows 10.

I know some of you were daunted by moving away from Windows XP. Windows Vista is on Microsoft's hit list now.

Microsoft decided to skip the name "Windows 9" since there apparently is some old code written that checks the version of Windows by seeing if the number starts with "9" (i.e., Windows 95 and Windows 98) and this might cause problems here and there. So they skipped "9" and went directly to "10."

Below is a preview screen. I would characterize Windows 10 as a mash up between Windows 7 and Windows 8. Click the photo to "enbiggen."

I'm both underwhelmed (by Windows 10) and overwhelmed (by the ceaseless change).

One summer, a long time ago...

I recently dug up an old photograph and my younger brother and I racked our brains to try to remember who was who. This group shot shows me and my Boy Scout troop setting off on a canoe trip in Maine.

c. 1976

Happy Birthday Mom!!

What do you get a special person that has everything?

Here she is sitting on a boat reading the history of one of the lighthouses near Baltimore, Maryland. I think she would actually like an old lighthouse - but that isn't too likely to happen! Perhaps she might enjoy a weekend stay at one - preferably one that is not haunted.

So what do you get her? Well, the case of my Mom, you get her a wire reel.

You take it down the shore and put it on the porch. And then, of course, you paint it and forget to take a photo of it!

In any event, my mom was surprised beyond words. She could only stammer, "You! why... why... you!!!! I.. You!!! oh!!!"

I'll get a photo of it painted next time I get down there - I usually don't go down their in the summer - the crowds and I don't get along - so when the fast approaching end of summer arrives, I'll be heading down to enjoy the much more peaceful, hopefully deserted beach and take another photo.

An old photo of the house down the shore showing where her new "porch table" is sitting - by the way, that is a Peugeot station wagon. My mom loved that car!

Stop and Smell the Roses!

On Sunday afternoon, on my way home from the houseboat, I was stopped in Georgetown, Maryland when a drawbridge opening occurred. I've been keeping track of how often I have to sit and wait at this bridge (not that I mind, the views up and down the river are nice!) and have been stopped seven out of seven times heading home and two out of seven times heading to the houseboat.

I took this photo with my cellphone and sent it to my mother and to the one-legged lady at the wharf telling them I had been stopped once again and both of them told me, "Patience! Reflect on the fun you had during the weekend and enjoy!"

The hood of my car is a mess, I parked under a tree at the wharf to keep it in the shade!

Before heading to the wharf, I make sure I mow my lawn, sometimes I use a push mower when I want the exercise. It takes me about two and a half hours pushing - the riding mower is much faster, but I've been having trouble getting it to start. Turns out the connector to the starter was loose - and I fixed it, so when I'm in a hurry, I ride the mower and get the job done in about forty minutes. I was so happy when I got it to run!

My mom's birthday is coming up soon - and I've been looking around for something she might want and like. I spotted this wooden wire reel at the wharf and asked the owner if he had plans for it. He said, "Take it away and it's yours!" So I stuffed it into my car and brought it home. The next weekend my mom said, "Durn, the wire reel is gone! I was going to ask if I could buy it. I think it would make a neat patio table.

Mission accomplished.

One day last week, I got home from work and saw an ambulance and a police car in my neighbor's driveway. I was very concerned about them, they are good neighbors. By the time I walked over, the ambulance and police car were gone and no one answered the door. Their dog, a seven year old mutt that thinks she is still a puppy was tearing around the backyard like a maniac. An hour later, she was still out there and no one answered the door - it being hot as heck out, I let myself through the gate and made sure she had a bowl of water (she did). She seemed a little lost, so I sat with her for a half hour, hoping her mom or dad would come home. It grew dark and quite late so I went home, but I checked her a while later and a light was on in the house so someone came home.

Turns out her mom, who had lung cancer, had a dizzy spell and was choking on something. She called 911 for herself and put the dog out in the backyard so she wouldn't jump all over the EMT. She went to the ER and her husband drove there straight from work. I told them I "doggy sat" and they were quite pleased that someone was around - I told them it they ever needed a doggy sitter, emergency or not, I was "up for it." And if they needed a helping hand, I was "up for that" too.

Last weekend was the annual "Swim for Life" event at Rolph's Wharf. I loaded some photos into Flckr. There were about 300 swimmers and they swam 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 miles - unless they were in the triathlon, in which case they swam 2.4 miles and then biked 110 miles and then ran a marathon.

I was feeling somewhat cocky, having swam a mile and a third at the YMCA the week before in an hour and fifteen minutes. And then I heard during the awards ceremony for the swim, someone had swum a mile in nineteen minutes! Some days, I can't even walk that fast!

Life keeps ya humble...

This and That

I finally figured out a way to get the photo off my cellphone without emailing each and every one of them separately - I used a bluetooth connection to my Nook Color after I booted it into a hacked version of Android! and transferred the lot (I think about 160 of them from over three years). I then connected the Nook Color to a PC and copied them into Flickr.

Where there is a will (read: stubborn old cuss), there is a way.

This one made me think, "Now why did I take this photo? And then it occurred to me - it is in the "stupid signs" folder. Perhaps you see what I mean... "End No Passing Zone"... Huh? Sometimes I wonder about the intelligence of our highway engineers.

I saw this sign while in Florida a while back - and I thought, that reminds me a lot of someone that I know... that can't get out much. So I took the photo and sent it to them - to say "Hello". Now I wish I had bought the sign!

Someone was thinking about me when they saw this - it is a USB memory stick, and it had all sorts of SpongeBob computer wallpapers and backgrounds - and even some computer themes with SpongeBob mouse cursors on it! I get a Squidward instead of an hourglass!

Another Florida sight that made me stop and say, "Oh! Wouldn't someone I know like to see this!!"

Another Florida sight that made me stop and say, "Oh! Wouldn't someone I know like to see this!!"

So anyway, that is where the collection of this and that photos you see in my Flickr came from...

It's been awhile since I...

...photographed my foot. Is this a "selfie"?

I was on my way to the Hundred Acre Woods to see what spring has brought back to life. Obviously, this old car has seen better days (I took a few photos of it a few years back here and here). I wonder if it ever took someone to the local drive-in, an expectant mother to the hospital or a nervious teenager to a high school prom?

The Virginia Bluebells are just coming out now. I'll have to go back soon and take their picture... maybe the flood waters will recede and I'll even have new shoes by then.

Wordless Wednesday (A Day Late)

Barn Charm

This morning, I drove to beautiful downtown Douglasville, PA. My path took me past the Limerick Nursery where they had a sign out saying, "We are so excited about Spring, we wet our plants!" I can relate to that!

I quickly snapped this photo from my car while driving back to the office this morning. When I was a little kid, I remember seeing a ton of cows here - when the family went to Swenksville's firehouse for a smorgasbord dinner, something we often did.. I can still taste those dinners - the hushpuppies were out of this world.

My cellphone has a crummy camera, but I like what it did to this scene. It seems a little haunted to me...

I've been really busy of late - I've a bunch of things to post - but haven't the time to do so... yet. I got the following gem in an email - it simply shouts "Spring is coming!!!!"

*Giggles* The stories this photo could tell... or make me tell.... :)

Wordless Wednesdays

Link to Place

The Birds!

My take on Alfred Hitchcock's classic film.

Wordless Wednesday