Yesterday I posted another "wanted" add on freecycle, this time for a wringer washer. I've had a bug up my a$$ for a long time to get one, and hate the thought of new to the tune of $900. By the time I got back in from collecting eggs, I had a response for one! Even better was that it was 10 minutes away. I went to take a look, and was slightly dissapointed that it was sitting outside, and full of water. Well...........what the hell, maybe it's fixable. I drag the heavy monster up the yard, get it in the truck, and head off for some more errands before going home. Remember when I shut off the cable a few weeks ago? Yea......I just kept forgetting to drop off that box and wireless modem, ooooops.
Anyway, I get home, flip the washer out of the truck, and hand turn the motor. Hmmmm.....not froze up. I oiled the bearings and pulley's, run an extension cord out, and give it a whirl. IT WORKS!! The agitator works, the gearbox operates fine, and the wringers are free and roll in both directions. Oh yea! It needs more cleaning, lubrication, and obviously some paint, but I'll get to that after a few other projects like the chicken coop, which I'll be starting today.
I was able to get nearly everything for the coop with the gift card I got for Christmas, so there is no worry about spending cash we don't have. All I will have to purchase now will be a few hinges and door latches, which I'll more than likely get at the Habitat for Humanity store up the road.....gotta love new hinges for a buck a package! I should have the frame and siding done today, then possibly paint and shingle tomorrow. Hopefully by mid-week, everything will be finished and I can FINALLY have my garage back!
It looks like we'll be adding at least one more to the flock today too. I saw an ad on craigslist last night for white bearded silkie chicks, and we both really want one. So, why not, 7 bucks and a really cool lookin' chicken to add, lol. That way we can say that we have an even dozen layers since the one older one from Tammie doesn't lay anymore. Damn addicting chickens anyway.......
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
and now....back to man stuff lol
WHEW.......I gotta work on covering myself after that last post, geeeeeeez. But, I think I have something.
Today I went to with my uncle to do some good 'ole swappin' with someone I met off my craigslist post for tools I was selling/trading. Of course I couldn't say "willing to trade for guns", so I just said "hunting items". I got a response from someone, and we talked back and forth in email, then realized we were writing 2 minutes apart, so I just gave him my cell number. He wanted my drill, and he had a couple of .22 rifles and a .50 cal muzzleloader, so I told him I would be out in the morning. I took my uncle with me, since he wanted to go to The Log Cabin shop, which cooncidently was 5 minutes away from this guy. Off we set at 9am, smiling about the thought of new rifles.
I get there, and he carries out the rifles. NICE! A Remington Targetmaster single shot, a Marlin 60 semi-auto with a 3-9x scope, and the muzzloader. I was alllllll over the .22's, but the 50 was a bottom line CVA, which didn't interest me at all. After talking a bit, I swapped a DeWalt drill for both .22's, and we headed for The Log Cabin. I think I was about 16 or 17 the last time I was there, and all I could remember was wall to wall muzzloaders and cannons. Let me tell ya, I fell in love with this place. More rifles than I could count. The walls were lined with leather gear, possibles bags, tanned hides, leather pieces, books, cast iron cookware, buckskin clothing, indian beading supplies, tomohawks.......ok, I'm in Chris heaven. At that moment the theme from Jeremiah Johnson rang through my head, and I wanted it ALL. As I walked around looking like a paste eating kid on a candy buzz, my uncle got the breech plug he had re-tapped and walked with me a bit. "hey Butch, you NEED that 32 caliber kentucky rifle, don't ya?". Nope....couldnt talk him into it, lol. I grabbed a catalog and we left, then headed to the gun shop for sling swivel stud kits and a new .22 cleaning rod. Again, I tried talking him into 2 AK's and a nice Armalite AR, but he only wanted an M1 Garand.....picky picky picky.
I dropped him off at home, and went to visit the folks. Of course, dad had to see the rifles and claimed the Marlin for himself. I told him to go ahead, and that I would take his Remington 700 since I just got the other Remington, and he could put that Marlin next to his other Marlin. Sounded fair to me, lol, surprisingly he said no. I sat around for a while and talked, mom made us both a lovely meal of frozen dinner mexican something-or-another (ya gotta mix those things all together and coat em with tobasco just to have some kind of flavor, just like the corned beef hash MRE's, blahhhhh), we talked some more, sharing more favorite shooting stories, then I headed for home.
Both rifles needed cleaned, and afterwards are spotless. I made a good trade. That makes three .22 rifles within a week, so Lisa gets to claim one. She likes the look of the Marlin, but likes the weight of the Remington better. I just gotta get slings for all 3 now, and possibly a scope for the Marlin 25. Looks like back to CL again.....
Yea.......gun talk......no more of that emotional stuff........what was I thinking? LOL
Different route today-a story to tell
We all enjoy the internet obviously. We've all made connections with groups, websites, and people. Some of us have made friends online. Some of us have turned these e-friends into real life friends. I've met quite a few people from online, many of which have become close friends. I even have a buddy who met a woman online from another country, and is now living there with her. It's been a wonderful thing at times to sit in front of this screen, and this the story of *my* great internet connection.
It was 1997. I had been away from my ex wife for quite some time, and living with a friend. We were both single, and spent most of our off time fishing. I wa still pretty new to this whole internet thing, so I sat in his place for hours surfing, reading, and printing off page after page. It got fun, and it got addicting.
It was 1997. I had been away from my ex wife for quite some time, and living with a friend. We were both single, and spent most of our off time fishing. I wa still pretty new to this whole internet thing, so I sat in his place for hours surfing, reading, and printing off page after page. It got fun, and it got addicting.
One day I stumbled across the AOL singles/dating thingy. I thought, hmmmm, wonder whats in here? I did the little search engine deal, and low and behold, pages and pages of single women close to me. WOW, how cool is this?? I start looking, and the more I looked, the more I laughed. "Divorced-8 kids-more tattoos than teeth".....ok, pass. Next-"Cuddly bunny for you", hmmmmmmm. The pic pops up and it's quasimoto with a slight drool problem and scars on the knuckles from dragging the ground. ( I'm not that bad at judging people, just exadurating a bit lol) I'm looking, and laughing, and really enjoying myself. Sure, it was wrong, but hey, it was amusement.
I looked at those a few times, then one night one particular profile just seemed different. Same age as me...divirced.....2 kids....local.....lets see the picture. Oh yea, she's definitly NOT the hunchback, this one's beautiful! Somewhere in the profile, there was a spot for something like "about me", and this one just had one line. "hillbilly girl with all her own teeth" OK, that one made me laugh out loud!! The little icon was lit up saying she was online, and I thought, what the hell, and sent an IM. She was kida standoffish at first, but we got to talking. It lasted at least an hour and a half. I really liked talking to her, and told her to just call me. She was at a friends, it was 1am, and she said she would call when she got home. Well.....she did. At 2:30, just to see if I would actually wait, lol. We talked on the phone till at least 4 or 5 am, and she had to work the next morning, ooops. I told her I really wanted to meet her, so she told me where she worked. I had to laugh since I knew exactly where that was. After all, I put the sprinklers in that building....yea, I think I can find it, lol.
I looked at those a few times, then one night one particular profile just seemed different. Same age as me...divirced.....2 kids....local.....lets see the picture. Oh yea, she's definitly NOT the hunchback, this one's beautiful! Somewhere in the profile, there was a spot for something like "about me", and this one just had one line. "hillbilly girl with all her own teeth" OK, that one made me laugh out loud!! The little icon was lit up saying she was online, and I thought, what the hell, and sent an IM. She was kida standoffish at first, but we got to talking. It lasted at least an hour and a half. I really liked talking to her, and told her to just call me. She was at a friends, it was 1am, and she said she would call when she got home. Well.....she did. At 2:30, just to see if I would actually wait, lol. We talked on the phone till at least 4 or 5 am, and she had to work the next morning, ooops. I told her I really wanted to meet her, so she told me where she worked. I had to laugh since I knew exactly where that was. After all, I put the sprinklers in that building....yea, I think I can find it, lol.
We met the next morning. I was in the store, and she came running in, 20 minutes late. I kinda snickered as she ran past me, and I said "you look like someone who was on the phone too long", to which I got the response "and you look like the ass that KEPT me up so late". Joking right off the bat, I like this. She came back around, wearing that lovely store blue managers vest, and we talked for a while. I asked her out, and we went out that very night. Yep....Country Kitchen, lmao nothin' but class.
After that first night, we dated for just a few months when I moved in with her and the kids. The following May, we bought a house and moved from the old farmhouse she was renting. After about a year, I asked her to marry me, and a year after that,. on September 9th, 2000, I married my Lisa.
So here we are, pushing 11 years together, and 9 years married. I've never been happier in my life. I've said it before, and I'm not ashamed to be a guy that says such things. She is my life, my guiding force, and my light down this path we are on together. Don't laugh at the e-dating websites and commercials, theee things really happen folks........look at me.
After that first night, we dated for just a few months when I moved in with her and the kids. The following May, we bought a house and moved from the old farmhouse she was renting. After about a year, I asked her to marry me, and a year after that,. on September 9th, 2000, I married my Lisa.
So here we are, pushing 11 years together, and 9 years married. I've never been happier in my life. I've said it before, and I'm not ashamed to be a guy that says such things. She is my life, my guiding force, and my light down this path we are on together. Don't laugh at the e-dating websites and commercials, theee things really happen folks........look at me.
By the way.......this is the actual picture I found that night. Now how could I pass her up????
Monday, March 9, 2009
Cold Monday....again
Today it's in the lower 40's and raining. Over the weekend it was very warm, but rained like mad pretty much non-stop. Arrgh this weather will make ya nuts, but it's typical Ohio. I was hoping to start the new coop, but I'm not really a fan of working in the rain. Maybe it will clear up later in the week. I really hope it does, I need some motivation.
Between this weather and the layoff, I've really gotten myself into a funk. I don't want to do a lot, I lack motivation, and I just want to sleep. I'm trying my best to fight it, but it's tough. I want to start the coop, but the weather sucks. I want to work on Lisa's sewing room, but the money for drywall isn't there. I want to work on preps and a BOB, but there's that money issue again. Ughhhhh why couldn't this have happend in the summer. I'll come around soon, just hopefully before Lisa has to kick me in the ass to get me started.....
I talked to my boss last week, and he things I may be coming back in another week or 2. They're getting a few jobs here and there, but they're all small. His intentions are to bring me back into the office, and start up the inspection and service department. I'm really hoping that works out, I miss doing that since the old company went bankrupt 5 years ago. I like the challenge, I like going different places every day, I like not carrying tools every day. Again, I'm hoping it all works out in the end, but I'm not holding my breath.
I've looked every day in job classifieds since the layoff. Unless I want to be a paralegal or dental assistant, there's really not much out there. The sunday paper usually has 2-3 pages of jobs listed, but the past several weeks barely had 25-30 total. I've called on a few, only to be dissapointed by the pay scale. One was to a horse farm. They wanted someone to do maintenance, cleaning, painting, etc. Sounds good right? Maybe something I might enjoy? Well...I call and talk to someone for 10 minutes about duties (which I can more than handle), then find out the job starts at $8 an hour. Wow. I havent worked for 8 bucks since I was a teenager. I called another about groundskeepers at a local BIG golf course, the one where they have the big Tournament of Champions every year.......$8.50 an hour. Garden center help-$7 hr, Construction labor-$8 hr. I called one this morning for outside sales for a major tool & equiptment rental company. I guarantee that I know the workings of these machines more than any other salesman they have;c'mon, I USE them every day. But....I have no sales experience other than retail in firearms 13 years ago, so they aren't interested in talking to me. I've posted a few tools on craigslist to sell or trade, but have gotten very few responses. I'm going to the garage one day this week to go through more to list and try. I gotta do something.
Well......other than my being depressed and worried over this whole mess, I'm working on some other things too. Last week I brought home another rifle. I had bought my sister a .22 Marlin wayyyyy back in the Woolworth days, I was probably around 20. She's shot the thing *maybe* twice, and it's been sitting ever since. After a 2 hour phone conversation last week, she told me to take it. (its out at mom & dads) I had completely forgot what it was, but I got it when I went to visit last Friday. It's a Marlin 25, .22 bolt action with the detachable box magazine. It need a sling kit installed, and a scope, but for now it will do just fine. When I went to visit my uncle on Saturday, he showed me a couple that my cousin had brought over 10 years ago. There was a nice Ithica 37 featherlight 20 guage, and an Interarms MKX (98 action) in 30.06. Apparantly, my cousin doesnt want them, he just brought them to my uncle to "hang on to". One day this week I'll call my cousin and see if he wants rid of them. My uncle told me to just take them, "after 10 years, they're mine" lol, but I'll ask first. They'd make nice additions to the cabinet here. I'll soon be bringing home dads 700 adl in .222 remington as well. I plan on heading out with the neighbor to shoot coyotes one of these nights, and this will do the job just fine. I already have a bipod and 6.5-20x Leupold that will make fine additions to it, so it will do well for varmints too. (IF I can find somewhere to go now) Plus, I'm working another .22 from someone off CL. He has a very nice old Marlin 75 with scope and sling that I want, and he may trade for one of the drills I am trying to sell. We need the cash, but this would make a great little first 22 for Lisa. He's supposed to get back to me this week and decide, so we'll see. I'm also gonna work on the neighbor sometime again, and try to talk him out of the 3030 Marlin he has that hasn't been fired in 20+ years. I know this isn't the best time to get back into gun swappin, but somehow I'm happy to get back into it, and won't spend a dime out of pocket.
Well.....enough for now. I gotta go take care of some of my house-husband duties, lol. I'm actually in a bit of a better mood now that I got to sit here and vent......
Between this weather and the layoff, I've really gotten myself into a funk. I don't want to do a lot, I lack motivation, and I just want to sleep. I'm trying my best to fight it, but it's tough. I want to start the coop, but the weather sucks. I want to work on Lisa's sewing room, but the money for drywall isn't there. I want to work on preps and a BOB, but there's that money issue again. Ughhhhh why couldn't this have happend in the summer. I'll come around soon, just hopefully before Lisa has to kick me in the ass to get me started.....
I talked to my boss last week, and he things I may be coming back in another week or 2. They're getting a few jobs here and there, but they're all small. His intentions are to bring me back into the office, and start up the inspection and service department. I'm really hoping that works out, I miss doing that since the old company went bankrupt 5 years ago. I like the challenge, I like going different places every day, I like not carrying tools every day. Again, I'm hoping it all works out in the end, but I'm not holding my breath.
I've looked every day in job classifieds since the layoff. Unless I want to be a paralegal or dental assistant, there's really not much out there. The sunday paper usually has 2-3 pages of jobs listed, but the past several weeks barely had 25-30 total. I've called on a few, only to be dissapointed by the pay scale. One was to a horse farm. They wanted someone to do maintenance, cleaning, painting, etc. Sounds good right? Maybe something I might enjoy? Well...I call and talk to someone for 10 minutes about duties (which I can more than handle), then find out the job starts at $8 an hour. Wow. I havent worked for 8 bucks since I was a teenager. I called another about groundskeepers at a local BIG golf course, the one where they have the big Tournament of Champions every year.......$8.50 an hour. Garden center help-$7 hr, Construction labor-$8 hr. I called one this morning for outside sales for a major tool & equiptment rental company. I guarantee that I know the workings of these machines more than any other salesman they have;c'mon, I USE them every day. But....I have no sales experience other than retail in firearms 13 years ago, so they aren't interested in talking to me. I've posted a few tools on craigslist to sell or trade, but have gotten very few responses. I'm going to the garage one day this week to go through more to list and try. I gotta do something.
Well......other than my being depressed and worried over this whole mess, I'm working on some other things too. Last week I brought home another rifle. I had bought my sister a .22 Marlin wayyyyy back in the Woolworth days, I was probably around 20. She's shot the thing *maybe* twice, and it's been sitting ever since. After a 2 hour phone conversation last week, she told me to take it. (its out at mom & dads) I had completely forgot what it was, but I got it when I went to visit last Friday. It's a Marlin 25, .22 bolt action with the detachable box magazine. It need a sling kit installed, and a scope, but for now it will do just fine. When I went to visit my uncle on Saturday, he showed me a couple that my cousin had brought over 10 years ago. There was a nice Ithica 37 featherlight 20 guage, and an Interarms MKX (98 action) in 30.06. Apparantly, my cousin doesnt want them, he just brought them to my uncle to "hang on to". One day this week I'll call my cousin and see if he wants rid of them. My uncle told me to just take them, "after 10 years, they're mine" lol, but I'll ask first. They'd make nice additions to the cabinet here. I'll soon be bringing home dads 700 adl in .222 remington as well. I plan on heading out with the neighbor to shoot coyotes one of these nights, and this will do the job just fine. I already have a bipod and 6.5-20x Leupold that will make fine additions to it, so it will do well for varmints too. (IF I can find somewhere to go now) Plus, I'm working another .22 from someone off CL. He has a very nice old Marlin 75 with scope and sling that I want, and he may trade for one of the drills I am trying to sell. We need the cash, but this would make a great little first 22 for Lisa. He's supposed to get back to me this week and decide, so we'll see. I'm also gonna work on the neighbor sometime again, and try to talk him out of the 3030 Marlin he has that hasn't been fired in 20+ years. I know this isn't the best time to get back into gun swappin, but somehow I'm happy to get back into it, and won't spend a dime out of pocket.
Well.....enough for now. I gotta go take care of some of my house-husband duties, lol. I'm actually in a bit of a better mood now that I got to sit here and vent......
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