It’s been a long while since I’ve written anything … and it is sorely missed.
"... It's the beeeeeest of both worlds!" (If you don't recognize it, count yourself lucky. If you do recognize it, I feel your pain.)
Oh, God. Take me now.
A MIB (Man In Black) walks up to me and holds out his hand. I reach for my wallet, pull out my "Guy Card" (all us card-carrying guys carry 'em). He scans it and hands it back.
Cringing, I ask, "How many?"
"Eight," was the simple reply.
Eight points gone. Eight! That takes my point total down to where I might be able to buy curtains or drapes or at least know the difference.
I need a Guy Point boost, and quick! Last Monday, my boss comes out and asks what sounds good for lunch. I tell him it doesn't matter but it needs to be fast because we need to go to Home Depot ... I need to spend time sniffing lumber.
So we chow down on some Chinese and hit the Depot. That's when we saw them ... reconditioned pressure washers. Two of them. $200 each.
SOLD!
We load 'em up into the van and, after work, he follows me to my place. I unload mine (a versatile 3100PSI Homelite with a beautiful 7HP Subaru engine ... painted fire engine red) then head to the ice skating rink where M'lady's granddaughter is taking her 5th or 6th lesson (got any stuff an 8 year-old could use RB?).
While sitting on the bleachers watching the kiddo practice her Double-Cheek Butt Plops, I start ...
"Uh, honey, I bought a pressure washer for $200! It was half price and ..."
"WHAT!?"
"Well, I've got a guy ..."
"WHAT!?"
"... who said he'd buy my electric one ..."
Fast-forward an hour. I'm loading the "new" pressure washer into the her truck (y'see why Guy Points are hard for me to get and keep?) and making sure I've got the receipt.
OK, long story shorter, after confessing to the guys at HD yesterday that Monday was a lesson in who wears what (I get 1 pants leg and 3 belt loops), I re-bought the washer. I took it apart, loaded it into the car, brought it home last night, checked the oil, poured in a bit of gas, turned on the water, waited 'til I had a nice, steady stream, then pull the starter cord.
Ah ... then engine fires ... I pull the trigger on the spray wand (the only context a guy can use the word "wand" and not lose points, BTW), and out jets water.
So, this weekend, I'll be watching for small children or animals who could use a good washing ... nothing like a ton and a half of wet lovin' (gives me goose-pimples, that does).
Ah. 4 points recovered, 4 more to go ...
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear ... yestermonth ... the last few weeks ... the Lone Haranguer snides again!
New Year's Day we were going to return to Red Bud but we instead returned to Lexington. Driving through downtown St. Louis, we waved at TheLioness (if I'd not been staring at a long drive with not much sleep, I'd have tried to arrange a lunch meeting) and I got my first in-person view of The Arch.
The drive was uneventful except for the snow that greeted us just before reaching Louisville then came back for seconds as we reached Lexington. What was hysterical (at least after all that driving) was that the snow was much heavier when I got within a few mile of my house. The irony of the increased possibility of a much more fun wreck in the last mile or two after driving 500 miles had me positively chuckling nervously.
The rest of the week was spent capturing 10 or so hours of video and burning the raw files to DVD for archiving.
The next week, I worked and prepped for a trip to Florida to visit Mommy.
I fully intended to leave by 7AM Saturday morning, intent on reaching Orangeburg, SC but, as usual, I didn't get out until a much later time ... noon. Got into O'burg at 9-ish, slept and was on the road again by 8AM. I reached my destination around 2PM.
I spent last week clearing out the jungle that Mom's backyard had become. She's got a lawnman that she pays $25 a week to do mow and trim ... but there appears to be a limit to his trimming.
Let's just say that after 3 days with a big string trimmer, electric hedge clippers and some hedge shears, she's now got about 300 to 400 more square feet of usable backyard.
Since Mom is more or less disabled (she injured her back about 10 years ago and has problems standing, walking, and even sitting for any amount of time), I drove her the 20 miles to two animal shelters to look over the dogs.
Florida is a great place to get a new dog ... as long as it is a Pit Bull or a Pit Bull mix.
I'd intended to leave Friday so I'd get back to Lexington on Saturday, giving me Sunday as a day of rest (no pun intended) but since we couldn't pick up the dogs until after 5pm on Friday, I didn't get out of there 'til 8AM Saturday morning ... facing the prospect of snow in Asheville and the curvy yet un-sexy Interstate drive through the mountains twixt Asheville and Knoxville.
It rained a great deal of the drive to Asheville ... though it turned to sleet just past Spartanburg, SC. Asheville was clear, so I drove on through, not wanting to get caught in the still-forecasted 2-4 inches of snow.
I arrived home late but I arrived home ... there's something good in there somewhere.
This coming weekend, another road-trip ... this time to Bowling Green and a marathon photo shoot ... 11 hours, 11 or more models. Should be fun!
My paid access ran out a week or so ago. Meaning that BC pulled the plug on me here temporarily.
No matter -- a few dollars later and we're good to go.
Now to dust off the cobwebs and start using the place!
Just rolled back into Lexington after a quick trip to the Pittsburgh, PA area.
Beautiful house, good friends, and a good time was had by all -- except for the girlfriend of one guy -- she fell off the back of a quad when the ice over the "crick" broke. She went completely under and with the temperature what it was, I doubt it was any kind of fun!
The drive back was exciting at first, then boring. Exciting as in winter driving. I took some video (when it was relatively safe to do so -- always watching the road!) and will post it a little later.
So, I'm owing a vlog to answer the questions I got but first, I need to clean house a little. I kinda tore things apart last Thursday night trying to find everything I needed/wanted to take.
Or, I'll spend the evening in front of the fire with a book, a warm drink, and the cats ...
Decisions, decisions!