River Trip #1 - Millerstown to Howe Township Park

T gave me a break and let me take a river trip today. I floated from Millerstown to the Howe Township Park in about 2 1/2 hours. The river was 4.5 feet at Newport, which turned out to be perfect. I stayed dry the whole time & only scraped once.

Now I can finish the deck!

Yonkers, NY

I'm back in NY, Lindsay would be jealous. Yonkers is a bit north of NYC and has all of the charm (and traffic) that you would expect.

I'm reading about the history of the area on the Web, here and here.

I had fun driving around last night and today, with some help from the GPS. All of the natives seem to be able to drive and talk on their cell phones at the same time, but I'm not ready for that.

Tall Tees

T told me that the Tee shirts I got at Big R last week were actually XXLT, not XXL. The "T" at the end stands for Tall.

That explains why they come down to my knees.

Strawberry Shortcake With A Cherry-Red Washer

T made us fresh strawberry shortcake this morning for breakfast. We ate it as we plotted our day. Since it's raining and our outdoor fun is curtailed we are falling back on contingency plans. These will involve a trip to Home Depot and the laundromat.

The back story to the laundromat trip is this: Our washing machine suddenly broke last week, spewing water over the floor and into the basement. (I suspect sabotage since T had her eye on one of those cherry-red front loaders.)

Till the matched set arrives next Thursday we are slumming it at the laundromat. Observant readers will have noticed the "matched set" reference. The old dryer still works, of course, but we would not dream of having a washer and dryer that does not match. We live in Perry County but that doesn't mean we're unsophisticated hicks.

Well, T isn't anyway.

Two Tees From Big R

There's a "farm & home" style variety store in Warsaw called "Big R". They have clothing -- mainly work stuff like Dickey and Carhartt. I spotted Tee shirts on sale for $5.99. They were crew neck with a pocket and seemed heavy duty so I got two.

T has observed on several occasions that my Tee shirts all have holes in them and grease stains that won't come out. So I'm hoping to surprise her with my new, clean Tee shirts.

I also picked up a pair of summer work gloves. They are really light weight so my palms won't sweat as much when I move lumber around.

I am wearing one of the Tee shirts now, in my hotel room, as I type this blog entry. I feel very stylish. I'm not wearing the gloves, though, as that would be silly.

Anyway, I'm eager to resume work on the deck this weekend. I just have the rails to finish, and a few more pieces of decking -- then I'm free to hit the river.

Warsaw, Indiana

Warsaw is "Lake City" and close to the Billy Sunday Historical site. Billy Sunday was a famous evangelist in the early part of the last century, the "Billy Graham" of his day. I will not have time to visit the museum, though, since I have much work to do here in town and can't afford to be wandering around.

Another time, maybe. For now I am content to read the Wikipedia entry for Billy and leave it at that.

Bonzi Probation & Deck Rails

Bonzi likes the ranch -- lots of exciting things to do and see. I think he'll keep us. Here's a sample of what he accomplished today:

• Made coffee on the barbecue patio
• Took a bunch of Rhino rides
• Finished framing the deck
• Visited the Memorial Garden
• Made some deck rails
• Cooked some brats
• Built a fire in the fire pit
• Ran under the old deck and scared the Freak
• Barked at Otis and Black Cloud
• Helped me do the dishes
• Watched part of a movie in the WR

Right now he's a little worn out & ready for a good night's sleep.

Bonzelli

Hey, we have a replacement for Rat Dog on the way. T decided that I could not, by myself, fill the void left when Rat Dog bit the dust.

Enter Bonzi, who was staying with T's Aunt temporarily. Bonzi was trying to persuade Aunt Shirley to go for long evening walks and fishing occasionally, but hadn't met with success. So he arranged a transfer to the Ranch, where he could not only fish but go kayaking and chase cats.

Bonzi arrives on Friday and will stay if we meet with his approval. After a suitable trial period, if he decides to keep us, I will change the blog description. T thinks that my crossing out "One Rat Dog" was tacky.

Front Porch Sittin'

Lot's of progress on the deck this weekend. Framing is 95% done, decking 90%. T hung some flower baskets to make it feel more homey. We sat out on it for about an hour this evening. T described to me how the furniture would look: Porch swing, rustic rocking chairs, hammock.

I'm very close to my first river trip of the year!

I think the first run will be Newport to Amity Hall. Within two weeks, I hope!

Marital Bliss & Boots

T & I went for pizza last night & grocery shopping afterward. The pizza guy made a mistake and rang up two medium pepperoni's instead of one. He didn't know how to run a credit on the cash register so he gave us a "coupon" for a medium pizza.

Now we have to go back.

At the grocery store (where I got the shoelaces), I forgot most of the stuff I needed for barbecue brisket. Thank goodness for T, who remembered everything (well, everything but the cat food).

Tried on the boots this morning. The 72" laces are a little long but they are working out OK.

Gotta go shave now, T says I look kinda rough.

After that, back to deck work!

Shoelaces

I got two pair of shoelaces today. T gave me a pair of 72" for my boots and I bought a pair of 60" for my sneakers at Giant. After dinner I went down to the shop and had a good time lacing them up.

I haven't tried on the boots yet, but the sneakers feel real good.