Archive for October, 2008
Friday, October 31st, 2008
I was getting a little nervous. It had just gotten dark outside and no one even considered knocking on the door for candy. One little girl did walk down the road, but she walked right by.
On the way back to the house this afternoon, I stopped by the local grocery store. I picked up 5 bags of candy. I tried to get the stuff that we would like if we didn’t give it all out. Since we are new here, I really didn’t have any idea how many people would stop by. I figured 5 bags was plenty.
As I mentioned above, it was dark outside, but there was no action. Laura and I walked up to a vacant road. We looked up and we looked down…nothing. We started getting nervous, because the last place we lived hardly had any action either. One time, when we were living in a previous town, we actually had to walk down the road to give out some candy. No one bothered to come up to the house.
So, as you can see, we had reason to be nervous.
It’s not easy to miss our crib on Halloween. We put orange lights up. That should make all the difference. While we were standing up on the empty road this evening, Laura looked at me and said, “Maybe if we put the other lights on, people will come.” I’m like, “Yeah, all the people who are outside right now and just walking by will suddenly be drawn to the front door.” See took one step towards me and threw her fist at my mouth as hard as she could. Ok, that last one was a lie, but the other two lines weren’t. Either way, we flicked on the garage lights and the front door lights. We also noticed all the neighbor’s lights were on. Something should have been happening.
Halloween lights around front door
We put the candy in a big bowl and hid it in the closet so the dog wouldn’t eat it. She would eat right through the wrapper. She is disgusting like that.
Laura also ran inside to put the plastic pumpkin on the stairs and to light up the other pumpkin in the dining room. It looked pretty spooky through the window.
Lit pumpkin
A few minutes went by and no one showed up. It had been pitch black outside for a good 15 minutes.
Just as I settled in to do some work on the computer, I heard the doorbell. I ran downstairs all excited to see 4 little men standing there with cowboy hats and guns. One of them had a laser gun that he was pointing at me. He told me he was going to shoot me. I gave him a little chuckle and thought to myself, “No, little man, that gun is fake, it can’t really shoot.” Then, one of the other little men told me he was going to whip me. I gave a little louder laugh and didn’t think anything besides, “That was odd.” They were a festive bunch.
Things started to pick up after that. I would say that about 5 groups of little kiddies stopped by. For each visit, I put the bowl down low so they could reach their little hands in to get some candy. I noticed that everyone was generally behaving themselves and taking only one or two pieces. After a while, I started noticing the little kiddies getting a bit more aggressive. One little girl took about six pieces. I walked inside and told Laura what I just had happen to me. She explained that these little kids will take all the candy if you don’t stop them. I vowed right then and there that I was going to put the candy in their bags for them from that point on.
No one else came.
We have about half a bowl of candy left. We would have more if it wasn’t for that little girl.
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Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
As you may have noticed, the last post I wrote about the 2008 BMW X5 was kind of vague. Also, I included photos of a car that was in the showroom. What I would like to introduce tonight is the car I actually bought.
It took a few days for the dealer to get their hands on what I wanted. They had to ship it down from Massachusetts. The biggest issue was that I didn’t want leather. BMW offers an interior in leatherette, so that’s what I asked for. As you might guess, they make fewer cars with leatherette than with leather.
It only took the sales guy a few hours to find a vehicle for me. The problem was getting it to Hartford. There was a weekend in between, so it took a few days.
The car they found was a 2008 BMW X5, V6, space gray metallic with black leatherette interior. The car came with the cold weather package (retractable headlight washers, ski bag, heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, heated front seats), rear climate package (privacy glass, rear manual side window shades, 4-zone automatic climate control), running boards and dark bamboo trim. I also requested that the car have floor mats, a towing package and the roof rack base support system. There was a whole bunch of other stuff to choose from, but none of it really interested me. This car is one huge computer that is going to take a while to learn as it is.
Ok, who cares about all that stuff. Here are the pictures.
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Monday, October 27th, 2008
I think that’s a myth. There’s no such thing. I’m sure people go out to do a big cleanup every Autumn…you know the kind, when the kids jump in the huge piles of leaves, but it’s unrealistic to think that you don’t have to keep cleaning all season long.
I have already done two big cleanups. Each time, I blew out all the gardens, I mowed the lawn and sucked up all the leaves. I also got up all the twigs off the grass. I am betting that I have to do this at least one more time, if I want to get things really clean.
You know, I guess I can just forget about the whole thing and wait until Spring. That would be a problem because, besides having the place look bad, trying to get wet leaves up the Spring time is a much more difficult task.
All I have to say is I love you Stihl and John Deere. If I didn’t have this blower and ride-on mower with the bagger, I would be up…well, in a very annoying position. I couldn’t imagine trying to rake this entire yard and then mow it with the push mower. I suppose I could do it, but I really wouldn’t be doing too much else in life because of the time it would take.
Can a guy get grass obsessed?
Grass
I believe so.
Hey, I’m not the only one out there who cares about the grass so much. Do you know how much money people spend on lawn care every year? A whole lot, that’s how much. Those nice even green lawns don’t come cheap. The trick is to get them even and green in the first place. Keeping them that way is the easy part. When you’re just a novice like I am, the learning curve can be kind of steep. My main problem was identifying the problem. Now that I know what’s going on, I can correct it. The bad part is that it’s probably going to take until next Autumn to get things looking good. That makes for a very long Spring and Summer for a guy who sits on the front steps looking at the grass.
You really should see it though. When I am done driving around like a crazy man sucking up those leaves, the whole place looks like I just vacuumed it. It’s so cool. I get such a kick out of these toys.
Even my brother got a nice back-pack blower. He couldn’t deal with his 10 year old Craftsman hand-held, so he went out and got a big one. He told me just last night that he got done in 5 minutes what would have taken an hour with the other one, if it did the job at all. Hey, when you have a lot of leaves…
Sky at dusk
I know why people say that Autumn is their favorite time of year. It is simply spectacular. Even when many of the leaves are already off the trees, nothing beats a nice warm Autumn day.
We have been doing a lot of hiking and walking. Sometimes, I just stop in the middle of the trail and smell the air. There are only certain times of the year we can do this and I like to enjoy it. There is nothing like it.
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Saturday, October 25th, 2008
After I came back from playing tennis this morning, I moseyed around just finishing up some stuff that needed to get done.
First and foremost, I had to make a new batch of beer. I am almost out of my current beer (Irish Stout). It will be horrific if I run out. I ordered the ingredients for my new batch a few weeks ago. This time, I am not messing around. I mixed things up a bit with a new recipe. Here’s what I did…I went ahead and did my thing with the original recipe. I added what I needed to add and stirred when the directions told me to stir. This time, instead of just sealing up the big jug and waiting for it to ferment, I decided to brew a pot of decaf coffee and pour it in with the rest of the mixture. I also added 100 grams of cocoa powder. When I was finished mixing everything together, I took a big smell. It was like I had my nose in a huge wine glass. Ahhhhh, the aroma of chocolate coffee stout in the making.
Now, all I need to do is to find somewhere in this house that remains between 70 and 80 degrees. Yeah right. Like there is anyplace that hot here. I think I am going to store the beer downstairs, because that is the most heated area of the house. Even if the temperature goes up and down, I think it will be ok.
Beer kit thermometer
Today, I also made another batch of ice cream. I decided to make traditional vanilla bean, because I haven’t made a real smooth one yet. I am very proud of myself because this batch came out very well. I believe that if you tried it, you would give me a hug. It’s intoxicating.
Later on, Laura and I went outside to hang the Halloween lights around the door and to trim the Lilac bushes in front of the house. She did most of the lights and I did all of the Lilac trimming.
Rob, just in case you were wondering, this is what I was doing when you called.
I’ll take a picture of the Halloween lights another day. It’s pretty windy outside right now and I might blow away.
Since it was a great “working outside” afternoon, Holly the dog decided to join us. I tapped a metal stake into the ground and put her leash around it. Laura took a bunch of pictures of her and I wanted to show you the one where she (Holly) looks the most buff.
Holly the dog - Norwegian Elkhound
Doesn’t she look like such a punk?
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Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
Hey, remember that time I told you about how I got frustrated because I couldn’t fit anything (like furniture) into my car? Well, if you don’t, you can read about it right here. It was just a few days ago.
Well, after that night, I started thinking. Then, I started driving. After that, I started driving towards New Country BMW in Hartford. From there, I found myself signing paperwork for a new 2008 BMW X5.
You gotta see this. Beamers are nice.
2008 BMW X5 front passenger side
2008 BMW X5 front driver side
2008 BMW X5 interior
2008 BMW X5 rear
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Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
Today was absolutely gorgeous. It was the perfect day for a hike, so that’s exactly what we did.
We jumped in the car and took a trip over to Gay City State Park. We have been to this park before, but missed one trail. Today was the day we were going to complete the entire trail system at this park. Last time, we nearly died from heat stroke, so we weren’t able to make it all the way around the red trail. We had to cut up the yellow trail. I remember my face tingling when we were about half way done. Man, what a day.
Today was different. It was about 50 degrees outside and perfectly clear. The leaves were all crunchy and there was no one around.
We walked down the yellow trail and hooked up with the red trail for about a 2 mile hike. Just long enough to get some exercise.
Of course, I had my camera on me. I wouldn’t want to let you down…
Gay City State Park blue trail
Gay City State Park tree
Gay City State Park river on blue trail
Gay City State Park bridge on yellow trail
Gay City State Park stream on yellow trail
Gay City State Park stream on yellow trail
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Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Hey, guess what guys and gals? Yes, I found another beer. Before I begin, please let me know if I ever repeat any of my beer posts. That would be a little embarrassing.
Ok, I was up in Whole Foods this evening doing a little food shopping. I have this great vegetarian cookbook that has the most excellent recipes. Tonight, I made herb pizza. It knocked my socks off, just like my socks were knocked off in my previous post. Tomorrow night, I am making kidney bean and mushroom burgers.
You know, I have often considered writing blog posts describing the things I cook. I am just starting to get good at it, but I would tell you if what I made was bad. I’m honest like that. I will have to think about that one. The problem with taking pictures of the stuff I make is that the pictures would come out terrible. It takes a very long time to set up those real pictures for cookbooks and stuff, and I fear that my singular reputation as a master chef would be tarnished and I wouldn’t view myself as one any more. I would still cook, but it wouldn’t be as much fun as it is now.
Anyway, back to my story. I was food shopping when I passed the beer area, again. I know, I know, it’s my weakness. Don’t worry mom, I don’t drink too much. This beer area was near the bakery. for some reason, they keep the seasonal beers over in this area, while the regular beer is kept over in the beer aisle. I browsed through the bakery beer area for a while looking for something good. There were mainly ales and lagers, which don’t do it for me. I decided it wasn’t my night for beer and I moved over to the cheese area.
I did most of my shopping when I wandered over to the real beer aisle. I chatted it up with some lady who was trying to surprise her husband with a new beer that he hasn’t tried yet. She mentioned that he liked the Sam Adams Oktoberfest. I told her that I just saw some Oktoberfest in the other area, but by a different brewery. Maybe he would like that. She thanked me and hurried off. That was my good deed for the day and made me think to myself that I was an angel. Remember the last time I thought I was an angel?
As I was now looking over the entire selection all by myself (just the way I like it, hehe), I noticed a six pack glaring at me. It said “Chocolate Stout” right on the side. “Hmmm,” I thought, as I was picking it up and putting it in my cart. That’s a much as I thought…just “Hmmm.”
Fort Collins Brewery Chocolate Stout
Check ‘er out.
I finished up and left. When I got back to the house, I unpacked all the food and started up my process. The first thing I always do is crack open a beer before I start cooking. It makes things glide. I took a few sips and decided that this “Fort Collins Brewery Chocolate Stout” is exactly what my next batch is going to taste like.
Did I mention that I am making chocolate stout next? I have all the ingredients. I was thinking about adding coffee to it, but I think I better not. I like to drink my beer at night and I fear the coffee will make me lie in bed staring at the ceiling. That’s not good for my tennis game.
Speaking of tennis, today was a fantastic clinic. I truly think I am getting better. My buddy and I hit for about a half hour after the clinic and we came to the conclusion that we have both improved considerably. This dude is like a wall at the net, so I don’t mess with him there, but as for ground strokes, we are lovin’ it. Believe it or not, we are signed up for cardio-tennis on Monday mornings now. We’ll see how that goes. I think I’m more into smacking tennis balls than running around, but I’ll get back to you with the verdict.
That’s all. Good night.
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Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
We had a pretty fun night last night.
Initially, we planned to make a quick trip up to Bob’s Discount Furniture in Manchester. We need a whole lot of furniture. We need to furnish the entire bedroom, dining room, living room, my office and some odds and ends elsewhere. Needless to say, this is going to be tough.
If there is one thing in life I am cheap about, it’s furniture. I have no idea why. Perhaps because it’s not screaming “necessity” out at me. I mean, what’s wrong with sitting on an up side down bucket? Ahh, history. It’s not in my nature to go spend thousands of dollars on something that is just going to sit there. It’s not like a couch is going to help mow the lawn or a coffee table is going to clean the gutters. Geez, furniture is one of those things that looks good, but doesn’t do too much else. I need some sort of purpose with the stuff I buy.
Regardless, it needs to be done.
We drove up to Manchester to visit Bob’s. This is one of their larger stores with a whole “used” and “damaged” area in the back. There is furniture galore back there. It has dings, dents, cracks and anything else you can think of. The place is huge. The whole front area is reserved for the brand new furniture.
We walked in and were presented with a nice bedroom set. I liked it, Laura kind of liked it. As we walked on, we saw some things that she liked and some that I liked, and vice-versa. I am not sure we were in agreement, but we probably could have been if we stayed longer.
As we walked around, I noticed a candy station. I walked over to it and started eating the caramel chews. I don’t know what was wrong with me. I put some in my mouth and then shoved some in my pocket. I then took some other candy and stuck it in my pocket. I am not sure who was controlling me, because I certainly don’t eat candy like an idiot (which I was at the moment). Laura was looking at me in disgust. She had a look on her face like, “Give me the keys, you are being abandoned.”
Upon discussion, we decided that we would leave Bob’s. Nothing really jumped out at me. I mean, it’s a great place for couches and stuff, so we’ll go back for that. We’ll get a few couches and maybe a Bob-O-Pedic matress set.
We got back in the car and decided to head over to Raymour and Flanigan furniture. I have always heard good things about this store. We were nearby, so there wasn’t much deciding to do…the only factor was that we were now in the middle of rush hour and I hate cars. Whatever.
We walked in Raymour and Flanigan and were greeted by a nice sales lady. It kind of reminded me of a used car lot. I still had caramel chews in my mouth, so I couldn’t really talk. She started laughing at my grossness. When I was ready, I asked if their furniture was solid hardwood. She replied that it was, but there were a few pieces in the back that we should steer clear of. OK, fine. That’s fair.
We started walking around and I began noticing a strange trend…this furniture was obviously made by the same makers of Bob’s furniture. We saw many similarities, one not being the price. It seemed that they tacked on a few thousand dollars and upped the quality slightly, but it appeared that whoever made Bob’s furniture made this as well. I may be wrong, but that’s the way it looked.
You should have seen me, I was under the tables trying to see if they were made of real wood, pulling out drawers to see what kind of runners were used, wiggling things back and forth, checking the quality. Things were just OK. If I had to choose between the two, I would head back to Bob’s and save some money. I think both places offered similar furniture that would last about the same amount of time. This, of course, is my very uninformed opinion.
Laura and I looked at each other and decided to wash our hands of both places. We knew of one place that really makes us drool…Pottery Barn up at Evergreen Walk. Now, that’s what I’m talkin’ bout.
We walked in and picked out a bedroom set. Yup, it was that easy. It’s the Hudson Collection that can be seen here. We already knew the quality of furniture that Pottery Barn sells and really didn’t need to inspect it. Every time we go in this place, we look at the stuff, so it was really easy. The only problem is that the Pottery Barn furniture prices are in a whole different realm than the other two places.
OK, moving on. The end of the year is coming and I need office furniture. We walked to the back of the store and I picked out a nice little item called the “Rhys Console Table.” This is a perfect little place to put my fax machine and printer. Also, I can use the drawers for random things that are currently sitting on the floor.
Rhys Console Table
Then, we looked through the catalog and found a nice desk called the “Aris Large Desk.” I have had my eye on this for some time. We bought the console table and are having it delivered. I had to wait to order the desk online, because that’s an internet only item. I did that last night. They are going to deliver that in a few weeks.
Now, all I need is maybe some sort of shelving unit and a chair. That’s it for the office.
We were pooped from furniture shopping, so we left.
I have been meaning to stop by L.L.Bean to grab some more waffle shirts. I have two that everyone already makes fun of. One of them is salmon colored and has a picture of a salmon on it. Since I am a trendsetter, I ignore this fun poked in my direction.
As we were walking to the car, I asked Laura if she wanted to go to L.L.Bean for a few minutes. I mean, it was right in front of us. What the heck, we went to the store.
Hey, wouldn’t you know it, they didn’t have any waffle shirts. What they did have is some awesome “Corduroys”, some really cool “Two-Layer River Driver’s Shirts” and a really marvelous “Merino Wool Sherpa Sweater” that I have been looking to buy for about 10 years now. Oh yeah, I also picked up this amazing black “Fitness Fleece Jacket” that was calling my name too. Don’t you like my use of attributive adjectives?
Boy, what a night. At least I learned a lesson from all this…which is…I need an SUV. I am sick of paying for shipping.
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Sunday, October 19th, 2008
As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, lawn aeration was on my list of things to do. I think I mentioned that I was going to purchase a plug aerator next Autumn. Well, as with many things I say I am going to do in the future, this got done a little faster than expected.
The reason I couldn’t help myself was the great deal I got on the aerator. I checked a few places online and kept coming up with the same price everywhere. Then, I found the same aerator that everyone else was selling, over at Ace Hardware for less than half the price. I called the local Ace and had them order it for me. The guy told me the reason for the cheap price was that the warehouse was discontinuing them.
I was a little surprised when the hardware guy rolled the aerator out in a box. I wasn’t aware that I was going to have to assemble the thing. I mean, how many parts could there actually be?
Lawn plug aerator parts
It doesn’t look like too many parts, but all the small ones are in the small boxes. It took about an hour and a half to put together. This was one of those projects where, if I didn’t have the instructions, I would still be working on it. It wasn’t a difficult job, just methodical.
Lawn plug aerator
The unit looks very good when it’s all together. I was pretty excited to hook it up to the tractor, because I like attachments. I also wanted to see all those little plugs of dirt get spit out by this little contraption.
John Deere X300 and a tow behind lawn plug aerator
In order for the machine to operate correctly, it needs some weight on top of it. I used about 10 one foot by one foot pavers and some bungee cords for this.
The aerator works great, but is a little clunky when in action. I didn’t expect the bounciness of it. I guess that is the way it has to be…it’s riding on 24 tines, getting thrown all over the place. It made a whole heck of a lot of holes about 2 1/2 inches deep. You can’t really see the plugs because the grass is not that short. If I cut it short, you would see them.
Next up, lime treatment and winterizer fertilizer.
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Friday, October 17th, 2008
Today, we hopped in the car and went for a little ride.
First, we stopped by the local library so Laura could get a library card and pick up a book. The town library is newly renovated, expanded and really very nice. I haven’t been in a library in years. You should have seen me…I was astounded. I went to the back of the fiction aisle and found whole sections of my favorite authors…Ridley Pearson, John Grisham, James Patterson. I was floored. So this is what libraries do…ahhh.
After that little chore was done, we got back in the car and started our trip up to Putnam and Connecticut’s “Quiet Corner.” First off, let me just say that this has got to be the most colorful Autumn I have ever lived through. I have never seen so much orange in the leaves. I am used to yellow and red, but it’s the orange that really gets to me. It is so bright, it knocks my socks off. I have to pull over to put them back on.
I didn’t expect the trip to be so much fun. Usually, I focus on getting somewhere, but today, it was hard to ignore the peace and tranquility of the area. I once asked Laura where everyone was. It was cool driving fast through all those country roads with no one around.
Autumn country road, CT
We went through a bunch of towns, but one really caught our attention. It’s called Pomfret and it hosts the “Pomfret School.” If you don’t know this about me, I’ll tell you that I love private schools. I don’t know why. I guess it’s because everything is so neat and clean and taken care of so well. The students look presentable and the money is just falling out of people’s pockets. I get a big kick out of it. Fortunately, Laura and I have a knack for finding these places. Connecticut seems to be full of them. People must laugh as I do a double and triple take while driving through.
We drove through the school and headed up to Putnam. Putnam, CT is known for its antiques. The story goes like this…”Putnam fell on hard times during the early part of the century and reinvented itself”…you know, the typical tale. I have heard the story before and know the drill. When visiting these places, I use a cautious eye.
We arrived in Putnam and I noticed that the actual main street area was a little smaller that what I expected. It was a cute town though. I definitely noticed that it had fallen on hard times and noticed a few vacant shops. What shops were there were pretty interesting.
Putnam, CT
We spent a little time in probably the largest antique shop in the town. I can’t seem to find the name of it, because it just said, “Antiques” above the roof line. They had some pretty nice furniture at semi-reasonable prices.
Antique furniture in Putnam, CT
Stained glass in Putnam, CT
Antique dealer in Putnam, CT
Looking through window at Montgomery Ward, Putnam, CT
We walked down the sidewalk a bit and took a few pictures of places like…
Clippers Hair Salon, Putnam, CT
and…
Courthouse Restaurant, Putnam, CT
A few more steps and I saw a really intriguing alley. I took some pics of that, but they didn’t come out so well. What did come out well was my pics of an old window and the huge Coca-Cola painting on the side of a building.
Old window
Coca-Cola painting on building
We spent a while in Putnam and decided to head out. On our way back, we grabbed a picture of The Harvest Restaurant sign in Pomfret, so I could remember the name of the place. We have been searching for a nice restaurant like this that offers brunch. Since this restaurant looks nice and is in a nice area, we are going to give it a shot.
The Harvest Restaurant, Pomfret, CT
After we got almost all the way back, we stopped off at Mansfield Hollow State Park for a little hike.
Mansfield Hollow State Park
This is a pretty cool park. It has a large lake and trails all over the place. We walked around part of the lake and up to the rail trail. There was a huge field. I am thinking of getting another super frisbee to throw around. The last time I played with mine, Rob threw it in to a tree. I don’t blame him, the tree was about a quarter mile away and it was one of those crazy frisbees that go really far. Rob is going to have to come over so was can play again.
When we were done with the hike, we headed out and wrapped up a rather nice Autumn day.
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