all tucked in ...

Yesterday we headed over to Lowe's to get some plywood to enclose our 9' X 17' carport where the Galaxie now lives and make it a weatherproof shelter from the elements. Along with the materials needed for the carport we got some fertilizer for my hops.

Upon getting home, I set about getting the boards screwed onto the carport. I figured I would enlist Melissa's help to hold the boards while I secured them into the galvanized steel beams with self-tapping screws.

I removed the bottom row of the screws holding the aluminum roof sheeting with the intent of stuffing the top of the plywood under the sheeting to prevent rain from seeping in between the plys and eventually warping or rotting them. The space between the ground and the "roof" of the carport was about 56", so this entailed supporting the board off the ground while trying to get it anchored in.

This was no easy task. I really could only use my foot to help "lever" it in place as both of my hands were needed to screw the board in. However, Melissa had both hands and her feet, but still was mostly unable to keep it steady long enough to get the screw started in the steel. The board was dropped, lowered, moved, etc. waaayy too many times but eventually we got two boards in (luckily only four were needed) so were halfway done.

We moved to the other side of the carport and the board was dropped squarely on my toes. That was it! It was 85*+ outside and I am dripping sweat from every pore on my body and I just ... blew ... my .... top. I very unpolitely told Melissa to go back inside and that I would just do it myself.

Me and my big mouth and piss-poor attitude! I had NO idea *how* I was going to do it alone, we had enough trouble when both of us was working on it -- HTF am I going to do this?

I got a jack out of the garage that has a little indention in it which was about perfect for the edge of plywood to rest in. I brought the jack up to the right height and was able to hold it steady, once aligned, just long enough to get a screw in it. Then level it up and secure it. I repeated the process for the last board and it was finally done.

I still had to put up a tarp on each end, but figured I was spent enough and would tackle that today instead. I put all the tools up, spread some fertilizer on the hops and watered them, took a well-needed shower, and finished the night off with a few beers. One of which, was a Three Floyd's Brewery Alpha King clone.

I had never had this before but the recipe looked really good and the balance between hops and malt was about dead center. Upon tasting, it was every bit as balanced as I could expect. It is the most balanced beer I have brewed to date, and it was mighty tasty too.

I WILL be brewing this again and changing ... *nothing*! Man, it was good! I immediately put a case of it in the fridge to stop it from aging anymore.

Today, I decided to "finish" the carport. All I needed to do was to secure the ends of the plywood sheets as they were a bit wobbly at the ends since the plywood was 16' long and the carport was 17' so the plywood wouldn't go from end to end and was secured about 3' from the end of the sheet. So I screwed a "nailer" in between the posts and screwed the plywood to it.

About halfway through this process, the sky opened up and it rained ... HARD. It was a solid sheet of rain for most of this storm and dropped a LOT of rain in a short time. I just stood in the garage and watched it. The cars got washed, my hops got some rain and the fertilizer probably got worked into the soil really well as a result. YAAAAYYY!

The rain finally quit and I finished up the work on the carport. The Galaxie is now safely tucked away as you can see ...

all in a day's work ...

What an absolutely beautiful day it was outside today. I have a ton of chores or projects that need to be done around the house and I have made my mind up that I am going to quit ignoring them and start knocking some of them out. Not only does it make the list of things to be done smaller, but it gets me out of the house.

Melissa and Megan were both here today so it made getting outside to do stuff much easier. I really wanted to work in the garage or on my bike, but it is time I start working on things that need to be done that are not self-serving. Hey, I *may* be growing up! Meh, probably not!

Anyway, so I figured on trying to get the mower and the weedeater working since the grass is up to about ass-high by now. When the dogs go outside you can only see where they are by the grass that is being trampled down.

I knew I would need to charge up the battery on Dad's zero-turn mower so I prepared to move the Teryx out of the garage to make maneuverability easier. Turned the key and .... nothing. Yeesh! I have to charge the Teryx first.

That was surprising. The thing sat all winter long ... outside ... and the battery never quit. Put it in the garage and it dies. WTF?

Well I hooked up the charger and it started in a matter of minutes as the battery wasn't dead, just slow. Next, I tried the battery on the mower, just in case, but it was as dead as suspected. I pulled it, and set it to charge.

Meantime, I decided to see what I could do with Dad's weedeater. It hasn't been started in at least two years. There was no gas in it so maybe the carbs aren't all that clogged. I had Melissa run down to the store to pick up a gallon of gas so I could put the oil additive in and add it to the tank.

Now, I need something else to do while I wait for her return. I have been wanting to make a tray for Dad to use when he eats as he usually puts his plate on his lap and it is quite less than steady. I had a piece of board out there that was purchased with the idea of making a bookshelf for the cook books (another project that never got done). I cut it to size and made a hole in the center about the size of the bottom of one of his plates.

By the time I got that "done" (still need to apply a finish to it), Melissa had returned, so I went back to the weedeater. I added gas and immediately noticed why it had none in it before. It was leaking out as quick as I had poured it in. I found that the gas lines that led to the primer and to the carburetor were both .... gone! So not getting this done today.

Luckily, by now the battery for the mower was charged enough it should start. I had no faith it would as it has sat for about a year and not even started once so the carbs are likely going to need a good going-through. To my delight, it *did* actually start and was only rough at slow speed.

So I figured I would run it until it ran out of gas. I had to have the deck up 3 notches from the bottom because the grass was so thick. Heh. Running that mower out in the sloping front yard was quite the adventure.

The grade is steep at parts and with the grass being so high, it is wet at the ground level, so it's rather slick. I found myself slipping more than I had traction at first. I even got stuck to where it wouldn't get out under it's own power.

Once I had to have Melissa come out and stand on the rear of the mower to put some more load on the wheels to gain traction on that slippery slope. Another time, I had to use the Teryx to pull it out. After a while I figured there was just one part of the lawn that was going to have to be neglected.

After a few more runs, though, I figured I could kind of "drift" as I was turning downwards and it would sort of pull, then gain traction and voila ... climb right out. This got kind of fun. It was interesting as I got near the fence a couple times, but I didn't get stuck again, although there still is a part that is neglected -- mostly due to the grade and proximity to the fence not allowing the drift technique to be effective.

I managed to finish all the front yard I felt that I would be able to without getting stuck again and still hadn't run out of gas, so to the backyard we go. I got all that done (or as much as I plan to) and still had enough gas to get the mower back to the shed.

There was still daylight so I figured I would use the rest of the light to chop up some of the maple wood I picked up a couple weeks ago. I have a buddy coming up in a couple weeks to visit and we spent so many hours hanging around a bonfire drinking beers and solving the world's problems that I figured I better get some of this stuff split.

These are "man" logs. Good Lord, you swing that axe and it just .... bounces off the wood. Many of them are 1' - 2' in diameter. I split one big one, then would take a couple small ones, grab another big one, and a couple more smaller, etc.

By now the sun has set and I am now in the sequence of a big one. I have the wedge driven halfway down the log, but it just isn't giving. I turned it over and started working the other side. Dusk has turned into near dark and I still haven't driven through this log yet.

By now, I am damned determined *I* am GOING to split this damn thing before going in, if it takes all night. Swing the axe. Pick up the log. Swing the axe. Pick up the log, I think I got more tired of picking the damn thing up over and over and over than I did swinging the axe. I finally managed to break through and let out a victorious yelp. Heh, this prompted Melissa to ask if I was okay as she was worried I couldn't see what I was swinging at and may have struck myself.

I came inside and felt -totally- exhausted! I am sore! Yet, it feels great!

It's been so long since I have felt sore from a good day's work. I feel like I have done something, but all I did was cross off a couple items on a very long list.     ; )

need to chill out

A buddy of mine is supposed to be coming up this way in two weeks. We were chatting the other night and the topic of beer was brought up (imagine that!). He mentioned that one of his favorite brews was a Two-Hearted Ale offered by a Michigan brewing company called Bell's. I have heard of it before but never tasted it. As it turns out, I have a clone recipe for that beer.

Since he is coming up and I was about due to brew another batch anyway, I made sure to order the ingredients. They arrived Thursday evening, so I brewed last night.

I got everything cleaned up and sanitized and started heating up some water. My process now is to run two pots at the same time. One for steeping grains (which for this batch was 152* for 45 minutes) and the other for heating water to boiling so after steeping, I can add extract and hops without having to wait for it to boil.

This batch had 5 hop additions at a half oz. per. The first one I apparently didn't tie the bag very tightly and it blew open so racking will now be fun as there is a LOT of hop sludge floating around. The rest of the brewing process went smoothly.

I have to admit this was the FIRST time I actually wanted a wort chiller. I have done plenty of full boils now and not once have I ever had a problem getting the wort down to pitching temperature within 20 minutes.

This time, however, it just didn't get there -- not even close! I didn't do anything different, it just never cooled. I could get it down to about 90-100* and then ran out of ice.

I could have emptied the water and put in more cool water, but it wouldn't take long to heat up and probably would've been a waste of water. I just put the lid on the pot and walked away from it for about 10 minutes until I thought it was cool enough to rack into my glass carboy without cracking it.

Upon racking, I noticed I had lost nearly a gallon to evaporation. By the time I added that gallon, the temperature was down to 78* which was close enough to pitch temperature that I could toss in my yeast without worry.

I took a gravity sample and my OG was off by a solid .026. Man! I really hope this hydrometer is wrong or else I screwed up something royally.

birthdays are meant to be shared amongst family ...

Due to last week's bout of storms we had lost power on Wednesday evening. I was getting ready to bottle a batch of beer but the power failed prior to me getting to do so.

We had no power for 35 hours and I *really* wanted to get this batch bottled up before leaving for Tellico. Our power was restored about 8:30 AM on Friday, so I would have plenty of time to the boil water and priming sugar, then bottle it up.

With that done, I set about cleaning up, then packing stuff Dad and I would need for the weekend. Since Dad was going we were sure to have a cabin rented. This sure made packing go much quicker than when I am camping does. In about 10 minutes I had clothes, toiletery stuff, etc. that would be needed.

I fully expected him to say at any point that he wouldn't be going. As a  matter of fact, Melissa hadn't even packed at all because of this. This ain't our first rodeo. He has pulled this sh*t on me twice now, so we fully expected a third time. However, he never balked. Can't figure this man out!

Anyway, I packed everything in the bags on the Land Yacht and shortly after that, we were ready to head out. Melissa was going to be taking the car, because the wheelchair would be on the pillion seat and Dad would be in the sidecar. When Dad saw the bike out of the shed, opened, ready and waiting he balked.

"What's the bike doing out?" he asked
"Well, DUH ... it's a bike meet, we are riding there"
"I don't want to take the bike"
"Why the hell not? WTF did you buy it for?"

It was at this point that I was convinced he wouldn't be going. After all he didn't want to go in the first place.

The following occurred a couple months ago when Lori first posted the dates to the list for the event -- I told him we would be wise to reserve a cabin while they are still available. He told me he wasn't going. I said fine, but *I* WAS -- he could do whatever he wanted for three days, but I was GOING! Two hours later he tells me to reserve a cabin.

So, back to Friday. I figured he was looking for a reason --any reason -- to NOT go. This would surely be it. I finally got a reason out of him why he did not wish to take the bike. He said the roads through Knoxville are too bumpy and it's too painful. Okay I can take you down US 411 and avoid Knoxville altogether as that road is rather smoothly paved the whole way over.

Well we sat there at a stalemate for a few minutes before he finally conceded to take the bike. Of course, you can imagine where this is going.

The ride there was uneventful aside from a momentary rerouting as I missed one of the turns that 411 takes as it meanders through Maryville. I think the civil engineers tried to find the toughest way to route 411 through town that they could. It literally takes three different directions as you maneuver through town. Aggravating!

Anyway, we got to Hunt's Lodge without incident and as we pulled in many maggots were still enjoying some chili and lies. Among them, I noticed Tim Schwab stick his head up as I pulled in. That made me smile as I didn't think he was coming and I still hadn't seen him since he left for the desert a year and a half ago.

I got Dad unloaded and he was *quite* unhappy. Immediately he uttered "I am *not* going back in that thing, I don't care how long I have to stay here ..." (yeah, right!) and continued with "... that thing is for sale!" (Oh boy!)

Tim wasn't the only surprise. Christopher Mac *knew* it was my birthday and purposely lied to me that he wouldn't be in attendance this weekend. I was bummed of this and kept trying to work on him to persuade him to change his mind as the event drew near. He even involved Lori in his deceptive ways. Devious bastid! he got me good -- hook, line, and sinker!

I love it when my birthday falls on an SME weekend. It's like having a big birthday party.

I was told we needed to get down to the pavillion by a couple different folks to get some chili. Well Dad was in a mood and said he wasn't going to eat ANYthing. Whatever!

I had intended to get down there (hey -- farbeit for me to pass up Lori's cooking), but was so busy running my mouth and visiting with folks, I never made it down in time. That is not a good thing.

The fact that I didn't eat anything for some reason never slowed down my liquid intake. I reckon I got a little "extra happy" as Christopher put it. I was having a good time, but at some point the memory fades.

This happened quickly after Mitch (Christopher's buddy) showed up sometime after midnight. I had a great time catching up, but again, at some point it became a blur.

I *do* happen to remember at some point after heading to bed not feeling so well. My head was spinning and I was queasy.

The lodge had lost power earlier in the evening and was now pitch black. I, of course, was on the upper bunk. I just knew I had to get down and thought it easier to slide myself off the side and sort of "jump" down to my feet rather than trying to find the steps in the dark and falling on my ass. Of course, that wasn't the quietest way down, but I was more concerned with getting outside quickly at this point.

Of course, the jumping down only resulted in making my head spin even faster. I had the bright idea to lay down on the porch and that really seemed to help things tremendously. The temperature had to be about 50* out and it felt darn good to just lay there' and, according to Melissa, I did -- for a while! At least I didn't yack!

In the morning the power was still out, which presented Lori and crew some challenges to prepare breakfast. They somehow figured it out as usual and, speaking for myself, I was pretty ready to put some solids in my stomach.   ; )   As per usual, it was another great spread of typical breakfast fare along with what has become another staple at these events -- Wyn's Goetta  -- which is always a big hit!

Once breakfast was ready, I asked Dad if he was going to eat and got "Nope! I just want to go home". He stayed in bed and likely would have all day if my dear wife hadn't decided to make the sacrifice to take his sorry ass home -- which, of course, would cause her to miss out on the rest of the weekend. I wasn't leaving, but she is a bit more considerate than I.

However, she was worried she wouldn't be strong enough to get Dad out of the car by herself once she got home, so she had to wait until when Megan would be there to help her. That would mean her leaving the campground at 4-ish.

So she hung around a while with the few other maggots that had not gone out riding. From memory that was Big John, Sean and Cindy, KB, Alf (who had an electrical problem), Roger, Barry and Brenda, and some others that filtered in from short rides at various points.

I remember Cindy asking Katherine to do her hair, which she obliged. I think KB was really bored or just looking for shock value as she told me she was going to do mine next.

As you can see, I didn't fight her none.

I swear it is getting harder and harder to sit there year after year and listen to all the bikes roll past. It becomes even more difficult when the weather was as tailor-made for riding like it was on Saturday.

Well after Dad's antics, and again due to the actions of a more considerate better-half, Melissa and I decided that anytime I wish to hit an SME from now on, she will stay home with him and I will be able to ride *my* bike there so I can get some actual seat time myself. This is the fourth SME I have taken Dad too, and he has made a point to be anti-social each and every one.

While KB was braiding my hair, Wyn suggested she would like to go for a ride in the hack. I thought she was kidding, but she repeated it a bit later, so I took her out for a short run up the Skyway. We probably only covered 20 miles total, but I only had a half tank of gas, which wouldn't get me across the Skyway, and I was already feeling sore from pushing that big ol'  pig of a 'wing around through the turns, so we headed back to the campground.

Lori has finally gotten comfortable with delegating and that was a critical thing for this event as there was no power at the campground for most of the day. Whomever she got to help obviously had a means to make and /or heat up the food, which was every bit as good as usual.

The rest of the night was occupied with the normal lies, drinking, and all-around good times that occur when maggots get together. It was awesome to catch up with so many good folks that I have come to consider family and to have a break from the normal routine of things.

Sunday, I headed off to meet those who went for breakfast. I skipped on it last year, but made sure not to this time. After breakfast, Roger, Harry, Dennis, and I hung out for another half hour or so.

Afterwards, I had to go back to camp and "pack" the bike. That took all of 10 minutes. As much as I love camping, it sure was pretty sweet to have everything packed up in 10 minutes.

I took the direct route home with minimal twisties as that 'wing is just too heavy to enjoy pushing around. I believe this is the first time I *ever* made it home from the campground in the two hours it SHOULD take.

I had an awesome time hanging with friends new and old. I have never been to an SME where I haven't met someone new, and the trend continues. It's always good to put faces (and voices) to emails.

Once more, thanks to the Hunt's for providing a cool place for us to all hang out and for coordinating an endeavor to feed the masses in spite of lack of power or other adversity. You all rock!

a pane in the (gl)ass

I got the frame for the garage window done and mounted yesterday, but was unable to hang the window by myself. Melissa and Megan were out on a hike and didn't return until well after dark. They agreed to help me with it this morning.

It is no wonder I had such a hard time yesterday. The three of us together still took about an hour to get it aligned to the frame. We sure won't be hired as carpenters! We jostled, grunted, grumbled, and muscled it until we finally forced it into place.

The research I had done suggested removing all siding adjacent to the window area prior to hanging it. I can see why! 

I would have done so if the sheeting wasn't 22' long. I really didn't wish to take a whole side of the garage off to put up a window.

We had to push the metal siding out far enough to squeeze the window between the window frame and the siding.  It was quite a tight fit, but I didn't want it to be loose enough to leak, so it was sort of by design. This was enough a pain in the ass to do the first time -- I definitely don't want to have to do it again in a year or so because the window frame rotted from leaks. 

Once the window was in, I thought the worst of it was over. Famous last words! 

We had to pull the siding out far enough to be able to mount the window (using screws) to the window frame. Prying it off caused a few rips and tears but nothing a little silicone wouldn't fix!     ; )    

Once the window was secure, we had to again put the siding back *inside* the window trim. This caused *more* tears. Sigh! more silicone!   

Once the siding was tucked back in, all that remained was laying on the silicone. Now it is just waiting on the rain to make sure that I have no leaks! Once that has been established, I can put the walls back on. Anyway, here are some pics ...

it's hip to be square ...

I spent the day out in the garage again. It still doesn't look any better, though, as this is what it looked like this morning ...

What absolute chaos!

First thing I did (after taking pictures) was to get the wiring re-routed while there was daylight. I thought I had to redo two circuits -- a 110V line that powers all the outlets in the garage and a 220V line that goes to the compressor. The 110 line was put in by a licensed electrician. I did the 220 line. 

I was upset with myself last night because I didn't leave enough slack in the 220 circuit. I make it a point to leave extra line in *any* circuit -I- have ever run because you never know if you may have a problem (broken connection or whatever) that requires just a little bit more wire to fix. It's better to leave a little during installation than risk having to replace a whole circuit later because you are short 1" or so.

Anyway, so I removed the plywood "walls" that cover the breaker box, only to find that I *DID* leave some slack. Cool! Now I won't have to do a junction box for this one, just push the slack down the line and make room for the window. The 110 line only needed about a six foot run, so no new junction box needed, just rerun a longer piece of wire that went from one outlet to the next, leaving enough slack to work around the window.

After I got that done, it was a quick trip over to Lowe's to get some lumber and hardware supplies. As soon as we got back, I started cutting up the boards. I got everything cut before had to put supper on, so after eating all that would be left is assembly and clean up.

I got everything framed up and was absoultely shocked that not only did the window fit in the hole, but the hole was within an 1/8" of being square. I am NOT a carpenter by *any* stretch, so was quite tickled when I noticed I was that close. 

I nailed everything together to get this ...

I was equally pleased to find that the window frame is near perfect level as well. Damn, I either did something really right or really wrong. 

Tomorrow, I need to cut the hole in the garage for the window, mount the window, silicone it, and then I can work on getting the garage back. I almost dread putting in the window, because things have gone too smoothly. ; )

Boy it sure is crowded in there!

I am (or can be) my own worst enemy

So yesterday afternoon I set out to do some "spring cleaning" in the garage. It really has gotten out of hand.

I have stuff .... EVERYwhere! It is one big clusterf*cked mess! I typically am a "place for everything and everything in its place" guy, but over the past couple months, I have gotten lazy and left things where they were last used. Very chaotic and atypical of my normal (not that I am normal) behavior.

Anyway, so I spent the better part of the daylight hours straightening, reorganizing, and putting things away. I was even starting to see signs of progress and cleared off the workbench that my grinder sets on, so now I could sharpen my lathe chisels.   YAAY!

I took a break long enough to go inside and eat dinner. When I went back out, I planned to tackle the other workbench on the "shop" side of the garage. However, I started in on another project.

The summer heat quickly approaches and when Dad put the addition on the house, we wound up with two windows. I got Dad's approval to put one out in the garage and right now both are being stored there in the way.

So I got the bright idea that I would begin removing the plywood panels so that I could go about installing the window. Sounds pretty simple, but actually that required taking shelves off the wall and emptying off the workbench I intended to clean anyway and the miter box stand so I could remove them from the wall as well.

I hit a stone wall, when I realized that I will have to re-route some wiring as there was not enough slack built into the circuit to allow them to go around the window framing. Of course, it's night time and dark, so that ain't happenin' 'til tomorrow when I can turn off the power and still see what I'm doing.

So if things go smoothly (what're the chances of that?) ... today entails a trip to Lowe's for some lumber and other supplies, some minor electrical work, framing in a box for the window to rest in, mounting it,  and then, THEEEN ... MAAAYYYBBEEE ... getting the garage back close to the shape it was in before I got "ambitious".

Meanwhile the garage looks like it was hit by a tornado. It actually looks worse NOW than when I started yesterday afternoon!