Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
My lady and I have a nice little tradition going. We’ve been doing it for a few years now and it really seems to be working out rather well.
What’s the tradition? Well, it’s basically avoiding the world during the holidays and spending time with each other over a nice dinner. We’ve found some great restaurants by doing this. I hope the trend continues.
I bet people think we’re nuts. “What? How in the world can you not be with your loving family during these special times? Are you crazy?“ To that I say please stop asking me those kinds of questions. I like to think that our families are secure enough to know we love them. I mean, we talk enough. Like three times a week enough. Any more of me and they might specifically ask me to stay away.
Do you know what else we do? We don’t exchange gifts. Oh here we go again…I know, I know. “Why sir, do you not exchange gifts?” I’ll tell you why. Because I don’t need anything and neither does anyone else. Really. When my friends and I talk about this, we all usually end up in agreement. My sister and I were laughing about all the garbage people get each other during the holidays and she said something really funny. She said, “Do you know what I really want for Christmas? A house.” That pushed me off the deep end. I started laughing and replied, “Yeah, how about someone paying the electric bill or stopping by to shovel the driveway.” I mean really, I don’t think anyone needs more stuff to sit on a shelf somewhere for a year before it hits the garbage. Every time I head North on 91 past Hartford and look at that huge mound of dirt I feel horrible.
I know, I’m a Grinch.
But I’m not a Grinch when we’re eating mighty good food down at the Saybrook Point Inn in Old Saybrook, CT. As I mentioned in my post about our Thanksgiving dinner, I am diggin’ the buffet idea. All you can eat and the food is awesome.
It’s weird, whenever I think of the word “buffet,” I think of bad food in Vegas. Then I have to remember that when you go to a buffet style dinner in a real restaurant, there are real chefs making the food. From what I have experienced this year, it’s really really good.
The Saybrook Point Inn pleasantly surprised me. I just couldn’t believe how good the food was. I can still remember what I ate. Man…and the desserts. Holy mother. I ate this mousse cake that I had to hold myself back from. Oh yeah, the restaurant is nice too…but the food!
Okay, enough about the great dinner that I ate multiple plates of. Enough about that. We did other stuff too.
After dinner, I drove around a bit. My better half wanted to go back to the Old Saybrook town beach to collect some shells. Her collection is growing. Of course, I drove her there. I kept telling her that I always wanted to visit a beach with snow on it. I thought it would be cool and it was. Oh yeah…she got her shells.
Before we visited the beach though, I thought it would be fun to check out this one neighborhood that we passed the last time we were in the area. The area is called “Fenwick” I think. That’s what Google Earth is telling me. It’s sort of like a peninsula with a golf course on it as well as a bunch of really nice houses. This is the type of thing that gets my attention.
During our little tour of the area, we passed by the beach, the Lynde Point Lighthouse and some Monk Parakeets. Monk Parakeets? That’s right. Our jaws dropped when we saw about five bright green birds sitting on the branches of the tree that held their nests. It was so strange because I thought these types of birds only lived in the Amazon. Apparently not. They also live in Connecticut. You should have seen me fiddling around trying to get my camera out of the bag.
So there you have it. Our very simple Christmas of 2009. Just the way I like it.
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Saybrook Point Inn sign
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Docks at Saybrook Point Inn
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Looking East from the Saybrook Point Inn toward Great Island
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Looking North from the Saybrook Point Inn up the Connecticut River
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Monk Parakeets in Fenwick, CT (Old Saybrook)
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Lynde Point Lighthouse – Old Saybrook, CT
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Fancy chocolate from the Saybrook Point Inn
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Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Laura and I are watching Lost over again. During the first go-round, either I missed a few episodes or she did. Neither of us had the complete picture of what happened during season 1, 2 or 3. Let’s face it…things really didn’t start getting hot until maybe season 3 or 4.
Anyway, we are all finished with watching seasons 1 and 2 and are now a few episodes deep into season 3. We are at the point of where Jack, Kate and Sawyer are trapped by the Others and John just saved Mr. Echo. Really, this has nothing to do with this post.
Okay, you know how when you watch a DVD and are at the main menu, there is this bit of theme music that keeps going round and round? It’s the screen where you choose which episode you want to watch. Well, On this DVD, the background picture for that screen is where Jack, Kate and Sawyer are kneeling on the dock in front of the water. There’s a mountain in the background. It’s right after they got captured. The picture of the water got me thinking.
I started thinking about how cool it would be to live in Old Saybrook, CT. Old Saybrook is located right at the mouth of the Connecticut River and the Long Island Sound. It’s on our list of places to get to this Summer. They even have one of those neighborhoods where everyone drives around in golf carts. That’s pretty much what I want to do. They have beaches down there in Old Saybrook and there’s a lot of really cool stuff. So there I was, looking at this picture of kind of what Old Saybrook looks like.
I turned to Laura and said, “Hey Pumpkin heart, I want to do two more things before Summer is over. I want to go on that boat ride down in Essex (next week) and I want to go to Block Island to ride a scooter around the entire island.” She liked those ideas and even threw in camping. I told her that I was up for camping in December, when all the bugs are gone. I think we agreed on maybe September or October for that. I want to get one of those big hoodie sweatshirts so I can wear it in front of a campfire while smoking a cigar.
So that was my idea and that’s why I am writing this, just to let you know. Well, I had two things but now with the Old Saybrook trip, that makes three. Over and out.
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Friday, April 3rd, 2009
I think the first thing you need to do is to recognize that your lawn has crabgrass growing in it.
Sometimes, crabgrass isn’t all that obvious. Actually, if your lawn looks great during the hot summer months but not in the spring or fall, you might have a crabgrass problem. This type of weed loves the heat. While many types of cooler grasses go dormant and turn brown during July and August, crabgrass is thriving. It makes the guy who takes care of the lawn proud…until October rolls around.
The first tell-tale sign that your lawn has crabgrass is the noticing of big brown areas come autumn. While the rest of the real grass is growing nicely, the crabgrass is dying off. The only problem is that crabgrass is an annual plant. Later on in the season, the weed produces seeds that we unknowingly mow into and spread around our regular grass. That lays the foundation for problems the next year, and the next year…you get the picture.
So, what do you do? Well, you can either get on your hands and knees and pluck out every single crabgrass weed you find all season long. That would probably do it. Or, you can apply what they call a “Pre-emergent grassy and broadleaf weed control.” This the probably the preferred route to travel down. You can buy the stuff yourself or call a service to come to your house and apply it for you.
The weed control is pretty nifty stuff. It rests on the soil of your lawn as small pellets and dissolves as it’s watered in. Somehow (and don’t ask me how), this weed control stops the weed seeds from germinating. Stopping the weeds from growing in the first place sounds a heck of a lot better than pulling them out after the fact.
It’s funny – while walking around, I like looking at the different levels of lawn care in different neighborhoods. You can actually see distinct property lines of those who take care of their lawns vs. those who don’t. One lawn is green, while the lawn right next to it is brown and full of weeds. By weeds, I mean big brown areas caused by crabgrass.
My friends at Scotts Lawn in Hartford stopped by today to give the grass its first application of “Early spring and spring fertilization” which adds nutrients to improve lawn color and strengthens the root system of the grass. They also put down some “Pre-emergent grassy and broadleaf weed control” which controls weed problems, such as crabgrass and other annual grasses later in the year. Okay, obviously I got those descriptions from the card they left with me.
I was really happy to see the guy stop by today, because I was getting nervous that the crabgrass seeds would start germinating. I always worry about things like this. Add that to my worry list.
The fella who stopped by today was very nice. We talked for a bit about none other than grass and its care. Believe it or not, it’s one of my favorite topics. Well, I’ll talk about anything that has to do with lawn care or landscaping. They are both interesting. We both agreed that there were some areas that had a little crabgrass problem, but nothing that couldn’t be taken care of.
I told the tech that I think the lawn is already showing nice signs of improvement from what they put down last autumn. Of what grass has already started growing, it’s really green and soft. I just hope we can keep this trend going and get the whole lawn nice and green by autumn.
I thought I would show you some pictures of the fertilizer/weed control they put down as well as some areas that have been affected by crabgrass. Enjoy, because you won’t see these problem areas for long.
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Fertilizer and crabgrass control pellets
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Fertilizer and crabgrass control pellets on top of problem lawn
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Spring lawn greening up – showing some brown areas affected by crabgrass – photo 1
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Spring lawn greening up – showing some brown areas affected by crabgrass – photo 2
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Spring lawn greening up – showing some brown areas affected by crabgrass – photo 3
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Spring lawn greening up – showing some brown areas affected by crabgrass – photo 4
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Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
I am sure you are all just thrilled about my new utility trailer. I know I am. I have been having dreams about driving around with it.
Yesterday, I went to Home Depot in Windham to pick up a bunch of supplies. The project was to put wooden sides on the new trailer, so mulch and stuff like that doesn’t fall out. I also wanted wooden sides to kind of shield anything I am towing from bad weather.
I bought a lot of stuff, including plywood, bolts, nuts, washers, drill bits, spray paint, a tarp, a ball for the lawnmower hitch, etc… I have found that purchasing the entire box of bolts is a lot better than buying them individually. I am always looking for nuts and bolts and now I might just have some.
I was confronted with a little issue while browsing for the plywood I was going to use for this project. I went in the store with every intention of getting two sheets of 3/4″ pressure treated plywood. I left with two sheets of 1/2″ non-pressure treated plywood. The reason for this? Well, I was going to seal whatever I got up with Thompson’s Water Seal anyway. I have had good luck with sealing natural wood up and it’s weathered the environment. With the 1/2″ sheets going for about $11 each, I just couldn’t pass it up. Plus, I wanted to keep things light on the trailer. It’s really not intended for heavy-duty towing.
Here, let me show you the photos and then we can talk about them.
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John Deere lawnmower towing utility trailer
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New ball hitch for John Deere lawnmower
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Wooden sides on utility trailer
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Rear view of wooden side on utility trailer
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Tarp covering utility trailer
Okay, the first thing I would like to discuss is how great the trailer looks with the John Deere lawn mower. I bought a 1 7/8″ ball with a 3/4″ shaft yesterday, just for this occasion. I am going to have fun towing stuff around the yard now.
The wooden sides came out better than I thought. I planned on drilling a bunch of holes through the steel and really anchoring the wood down to the trailer. As it ends up, once everything was framed, I didn’t need to do that. I only actually drilled two holes in the steel towards the back of the trailer. Now, all I need to do is to take those two bolts out and the whole wood unit comes right out. It’s as snug as a bug in a rug and rock solid. You really should check it out. Everything is straight too. Wait, I lied…I drilled six holes on the ramp to hold that one piece of plywood all the way at the back. Whoops.
I also picked up a nice heavy duty tarp to cover whatever I have on the trailer. You can see that it is brown. I really hate those ugly blue tarps. They are a disgrace to look at and doesn’t help out the neighborhood if I have to cover something up, like a wood pile. From now on, brown tarps it is.
Home Depot didn’t have any Thompson’s Water Seal. After building this today, I am kind of glad. I decided that I can paint the wood black and things will match much better. If I pop the wood portion out and slop on some black Rust-Oleum, it will look a lot less than some home-made trailer rolling down the road. I will cruise in style.
Just as I was finishing up, Laura pulled in the driveway. I told her I had a surprise for her and held her hand as I helped her in the trailer. She sat down and I hopped on the mower. Then, I proceeded to drive her around the yard. We looked like total idiots, but I will tell you, that stuff is fun. I guess we didn’t look any worse than when she pulled me around the yard right afterwards. Man, I have been trying to get that girl on this lawnmower ever since I got it. Strange how she hopped right on today. Maybe it has something to do with the weather.
I need to pick up that black paint. I’ll take some more pics when it’s all finished and sealed up.
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Sunday, December 7th, 2008
I was lying in bed last night at around 12:30 just thinking about the ins and outs of life. I turned to my side and noticed that one of the backyard motion detector lights had clicked on. They aren’t too difficult to notice…they basically make the window shades in the bedroom glow.
Over the Summer, I set three of these lights up for safe keeping. Who knows what happens in this backyard during the overnight and I felt that perhaps these lights would scare away the wolves if they attempt to peek in the windows.
I rolled out of bed, walked over to the window and pulled on the shade string. I looked down to the porch and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Then, to my left, another motion detector clicked on. I gave a quick glance, but didn’t see anything there either. I became slightly curious. I scanned slowly from right to left and then I saw it. Our very short friend had appeared again.
Apparently, the neighborhood has a cat that likes to make little pit stops here from time to time. He or she is a semi-long haired black and white one. The cat was walking towards the driveway, minding its own business when I saw it, so I decided to close the shade to get some sleep.
I remember a time over the Summer when this cat decided to stop by to sun itself on the front walkway. He or she was probably here for over an hour, just laying on the warm walkway the way cats do. Very cute.
Back to last night. Just as I went for the shade string to close the shade, I glanced over to the right again. I saw little flickers in the beam of the spotlight. I felt a gentle tingle in my stomach because what I thought I was witnessing was our first snow. This, of course, was through very tired eyes.
Here are a few photos of what we woke up to this morning.
Snow on driveway
Snow in the back woods
Do you know what’s nice about snow? Well, I’ll tell you. It makes everything brighter. You can’t miss it because everything in the house comes alive during the morning of a fresh snow fall.
Laura woke up about an hour before I did. After I got out of bed and stumbled down the stairs, we stood in the kitchen talking. I said, “Hey, did you see that it snowed last night?” She just gave me a look.
A few days ago, I was doing all sorts of work inside. I was running around like crazy. The sun was shining outside, but going down fast. This time of year makes you feel like the sun is setting before you even hop out of bed in the morning. I guess it could be with the way it hangs so low in the sky all day. I’ll admit, it gets on my nerves at times.
At about 2PM, I decided it was time for a break. I needed to get outside to soak up what light was left for the day. I know myself and if I sit inside too long, I become agitated.
I opened the garage door and took a few steps outside. As beautiful as it was, it was a bit brisk. I remember this because when my cold pants hit my leg, I got goose bumps.
I went over my usual routine…walking up and down the driveway, looking at all the plants. I imagined what they were going to look like come Spring. I put a whole bunch of them in the dirt this year, so I get excited when I think about what they will become.
As I made my way down to the bottom of the driveway, the filtered sunlight hit my back. It felt so good, because it instantly warmed me up. I walked a bit further and found a spot where the direct sunlight was shining on the driveway. I moved into it and stood there in the warmth for a few minutes, just staring in the woods.
Then I closed my eyes.
The very first thing Laura and I noticed when we opened the car doors to visit this house was the quiet of the neighborhood. I am talking silence. I have rarely heard this type of quiet and was starting to think it didn’t exist. There is usually some sort of background noise that one becomes accustomed to, but not here, and that’s what really makes this place.
When Laura’s parents visited us over the Summer, the first thing they said upon getting out of their car was, “Wow, it’s quiet here.”
I must have been standing there for about 15 minutes. I have to tell you, I really, really enjoyed just simply being where I was. That kind of peace doesn’t stop by too often; I have to kind of go hunt it down.
I heard Laura give a quiet giggle in back of me and I turned around. It was like I just woke up. The sun was still shining on me, so it was difficult to see what she was doing. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw that she was taking Holly up to the mailbox for her daily walk. Laura likes to take the dog out for a while, so Holly can enjoy the scenery too.
It’s strange, because I am still thinking about just standing there in the driveway.
I don’t know why, but I’m sure it has something to do with…
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Sunday, September 14th, 2008
This article was written by Jay G on behalf of PetClassifieds.US, a popular pet classifieds website.
Is owning a dog right for you? Have you thoroughly thought out all the pros and cons of getting your first dog? If not, you might want to read this. I have put together a “Top 10″ list of what prospective dogs owners should be aware of before making the jump to dog ownership.
Can You Really Be a Dog’s Best Friend? A Top 10 List
I think that’s a valid question, and I don’t ask it lightly. The short answer is yes. The long answer may be no, and let me tell you why.
I think I’ll start things off with a short story. It’s interesting and I think it will shed some light on what I am thinking.
Way back in 1999, I was attending graduate school at Binghamton University. I lived on the third floor of an old house in a very small apartment. The house was in a rather congested part of town, so all of the residents could get a very clear picture of what was happening in the neighborhood around them. From my apartment, I had a pretty good vantage point of a few backyards that were close by.
As you could imagine, while attending graduate school, I was required to study for a good portion of the day and night. There was no way to get around it and much of it had to be done in my apartment. In order to have a good studying session, I needed quiet. Thinking back, I should have moved into a more sparse part of town.
The day after I moved in, I remember looking out the window into the backyard across the street. There were two dogs lying down on a dirt area. They were tethered together by the same dog leash, a piece of one tied to the other. Their heads were about a foot apart and they had no where to go. Every time someone passed on the sidewalk, they would stand up and run to the chain link fence, barking. This went on day after day. Eventually, someone from the neighborhood called the ASPCA and had the dogs removed. The owners were charged with having the dogs outside without shelter and a few other things.
This brings me to the point of this piece. Why do people bring dogs into their homes, when they clearly don’t have the means to properly care for them?
I’m sure we have all seen it a thousand times; the messiest house on the road with three viscous dogs chained to a stump in the front yard, the college students who thought it would be fun to get a “house” puppy, the overworked parents who thought it would be a good idea to get their young children an active puppy to play with.
What’s the common theme that runs across all three examples above? Bad choices. I think the mistakes many people make are 1) they don’t understand that owning a dog is a huge responsibility and 2) dogs can lead miserable lives, if not taken care of properly.
Here is a (hopefully helpful) list of reminders that you should consider before bringing a dog into your family:
1. Dogs bark. If you like your neighbors and want them to continue liking you, be sure to consider this when choosing the breed of dog you get.
2. Dogs eat. If you have trouble paying your own grocery bill, think about the extra expense of a big bag of dog food once a month.
3. Dogs need to go to the doctor. If you are having trouble paying for your own health care, think about what you are going to do the day your dog needs to have an operation.
4. Dogs need to relieve themselves. If you like to snuggle under your warm covers at 5AM in the middle January, think about the feeling you will have when your new dog starts barking to go outside at that time.
5. Dogs need to play. If you work late and no one is home, who will be there to take the dog outside to burn off all the energy they have?
6. Dogs need love. Are you ready to spend at least two hours a day with your dog?
7. Dogs need space. Do you have the room for a dog that may become hyper when it gets excited?
8. Dogs are not welcome in many rental units. Do you rent? Be aware that by having a dog, you are limiting yourselves to about 10% of available units for rent.
9. Dogs require patience. Take a good look at yourself. Have you ever lost your temper? Many dogs may do things that will upset you.
10. Dogs need to be licensed. What are the rules of your area when it comes to dog ownership?
The above list is not meant to be depressing. It’s meant to give you a realistic view of what you can expect after you bring that cute, cuddly little puppy into your home. I have owned many dogs and I write from experience.
A good friend of mine owns two rather large dogs that he adopted from a friend during his senior year of college. They are both about five years old now. He loves the dogs, but feels he may have made a mistake. He may not have been ready for them. I remember asking him how he feels about owning the dogs, to which he replied, “Yeah, that was pretty much the biggest mistake I ever made.”
Now, let’s discuss the brighter side of things. If you have looked over the above list and think you might be ready to give a dog a new home, good for you. Just be sure to look for that dog in the right places. There are many dogs in shelters across this country that are just waiting for someone like you to walk through the door. Do the right thing and adopt. You’ll be glad you did.
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Thursday, August 28th, 2008
As you may know, I have been doing a lot of work outside trying to make things look nice. A lot of sweat has gone into these projects. Things are rolling along smoothly and actually getting somewhere.
I have been visiting the local hardware store every few days to get a yard of mulch. I can fit twelve bags in the car, which is actually about a yard and a third. It’s good enough to do smaller areas. Once you start raking, mulch doesn’t go all that far.
I am up to the front sidewalk area of the house. I weeded the whole area this morning in preparation for the sidewalk lighting I purchased at Home Depot yesterday. There were already three lights out there, but two of them were out. I decided to buy three more lights and a set of bulbs. I got the Malibu “Do-it-yourself” metal lights, because they matched the ones already installed.
Malibu sidewalk light
These lights are pretty nice. They are about a foot and a half tall, made of metal, use 11 watt bulbs and are really easy to install.
Since there were already some installed, but I like to do things my own way, I decided to take them out, along with all the wire. With the 50′ of outdoor wire I bought yesterday, coupled with the existing wire, I had plenty to add three light to make a total of six.
After I did all the weeding and pulled out the wire and lighting fixtures, I assembled all the new lights. Each one took just a few minutes. I installed the lights and re-ran the wire so it accessed all of them. I changed the time on the outdoor timer and took a look. Miraculously, all of them worked. I am very excited for it to get dark tonight to I can attempt another picture. I am hoping it will come out so I can post it here. Then, you will see the pure beauty of my work.
After I showed Laura what I did, she suggested that we put in some small floodlights that aim at the house from the sidewalk, facing upward. I am sure you have seen them. There are a few houses that have those types of lights in this neighborhood and I get jealous when I see them. There is nothing worse than a naked, dark house at night time. Well, I’m sure there are some things worse than that. But still, it’s all about the lighting.
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Monday, April 21st, 2008
Wow, what a long day. Driving over to the new house takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes. It seems longer than it is.
Today was the big day…not only for us, but also for the sellers. It must feel great to sell a house. I mean, your mind is most likely on your new one and all you want to do is to get the process over with. Congrats.
We are thrilled. I think it is a very good move. From what we gather, people tend to move around in the same town a lot, meaning, they like the town. That’s a good thing.
We met the realtor over at the house at 2PM for the final walk through. The house was nice and clean and everything was just as we expected. We dabbled for a bit and talked for a while and then we went to the closing at 3:30PM. Everything went very smoothly and yes, the sellers are just like us. You can almost tell by the way they kept the place…clean, tight and when something broke, they fixed it. As a buyer, I definitely appreciate that. They were actually very personable people.
Ok, enough of that, now for the pictures. I mean, who cares about the writing anyway? It’s not like anyone reads it anyway.
Here is the front of the house. I think it has a nice “Connecticuty” look.
This is the rather large kitchen. There is room for a table in there and it also has a nice island. The door that is open goes out to the garage. Also, there are doors that go out to the back deck.
This is the fireplace. I am very happy there is a fireplace. I plan on getting a pellet stove insert for this and using it as a main heating source. Since the house heat and hot water are run off the oil burner, I am going to get an electric hot water heater and solar panels. I just have to figure out a way to make the look good and fit into the neighborhood.
These are pictures of the main entryway. Do you know how hard it is to get good photos of two floors up close? Not easy.
This is the blue room, AKA, the dining room. We have no plans for this room right now beyond walking through it. We don’t have much furniture.
This is one of the upstairs bathrooms. It’s pretty big and has one of those tubs that bubbles.
If you want to come over to visit, you can stay in the guest bedroom. It has a large walk-in closet and a full bathroom.
Here’s that bathroom I was talking about. So that’s two full baths on the top floor and one half bath on the main floor.
This is going to be Laura’s office. She gets the purple room. It’s pretty soothing. The girl that this room belonged to has a nice little setup. Perfect for a young girl.
I also got a picture of the room that’s going to be my office, but it came out blurry. It’s pretty much like this room, but different colors.
Here are some photos of the master bedroom. It’s a large room with a dormer facing West. There are two closets and a cable hookup. I am starting to sound like a realtor myself.
This is the one of the finished downstairs rooms. It is really comfortable and cool. It’s going to make a perfect…something.
This is the other downstairs room. This used to have an exercise machine in it. Laura wants to use it as a Pilates room. I have to buy her one of those exercise balls.
Can you say, “garage?” It’s about time. Yes, I am going to like the garage very much. I know that almost all homes now come with them, but I have yet to have one. I am quite excited about the electric garage door openers too.
Ok, last one. This is the little patio in the back that comes out of Laura’s exercise room.
You want to hear a funny story? You know how much I have grown to hate barking dogs, right? I never used to hate dogs, it’s just been lately, since so many people don’t seem to take care of them. Actually, I love dogs, especially my old dog, Mickles. I really really love Golden Retrievers.
I had a hunch that the only close neighbor had a dog. I wasn’t sure, but I did notice a fence around the back yard. They have an in-ground pool, so it may have been for that. I didn’t think so. I kept on telling Laura that there was a dog next door. I was really hoping it wasn’t a yappy little white dog.
Today, after the closing, we went back to the house to drop off a few boxes we brought with us. We were trying to loosen the load for moving day on Thursday. I parked the car and started walking in the back yard. I noticed something moving inside the neighbor’s fence. I quickly turned around and told Laura, “THEY HAVE A DOG!!!” I turned back around to see what kind it was. My stomach almost dropped through the floor. Upon closer examination, I noticed that it was a reddish dog. I then realized is was a Golden Retriever. I am not sure how it happened, but I found myself over there petting the dog. The neighbor called me over all excited, “Are you my new neighbors?” I say yes and both Laura and I walked over to talk to her. Then, out of nowhere, three more Goldens came trotting over…all offering tennis balls. I was in heaven. I was on my knees, petting them and shaking their fur all over the place. I was really excited. They are fairly quiet with the ever so often bark while looking at the ball. In Golden talk, that means, “Hey stupid, throw the ball.” I threw the ball a few times and what a riot it was watching the four of them jump all over themselves trying to get to it.
I am really happy that both Laura and I met the neighbor so soon and got to know the dogs. Now, we can go over and play with them without actually having to own another one. That’s fine with me.
So, now we have two houses. Anyone want to buy an 1,150 square foot cape on 1.25 acres? Just remodeled…You let me know.
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Saturday, March 15th, 2008
I thought I would give you a little update on the house. The homeowners accepted our offer. The real estate agent is drawing up the contract and we are going to visit it once more on Monday. We are going to walk up and down the road for a second once-over. I guess it would be called a twice-over. If everything is cool, we are going to head to the real estate office and sign the contract. I will be sure to take photos of the neighborhood and post them.
I already called the mortgage company and gave them the revised numbers and I have an appointment on Tuesday morning to get everything done. He says that we could have the closing before the end of the month. I would say that’s pretty fast. He told me that he had a closing in four days, a few weeks back. That is just nuts.
Needless to say, I am a little nervous. We are going to be swimming in the house, but at least Laura will get her own office and so will I. There will also be another bedroom with a bathroom, so if we ever have guests, they will be hooked up. We can then have another whole family living in the finished basement. Also, the two car garage is something I have always wanted. No more scraping ice off the windshields. Ye haw.
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Saturday, August 12th, 2006
I have been holding onto a gift certificate that Laura gave me for almost two years now. It is from 1-800-SKY-RIDE. The gift certificate was for tandem Hang Gliding with an instructor. How I ended up with this certificate escapes me. I am assuming that about two years ago, I was probably running my mouth about how awesome it would be to soar like a bird and how I would love, just love to go hang gliding one day. Low and behold, Christmas rolls around and a hang gliding gift certificate finds it’s way into my hand.
I though about switching it up with the company and adding a few bucks so we could both go on a balloon ride or something nice like that. Then a year passed. After that, the next year’s summer was coming to an end and I began to think that it would be a terrible waste to let this very expensive gift expire. Ah, what to do.
Today, the car drove me to Randall Airport in Middletown, NY. There was a guy there who accepted these gift certificates. 1-800-SKY-RIDE is a national company that works with local places. They charge a premium to purchase the gift certificate through them, because it is much easier. Then, you just have to redeem it at a local company that accepts them.
I arrived at about 9AM. It was quite breezy and cold. There were a few people hanging around talking the talk. No one was walking the walk yet. Everyone kept looking at the tops of the trees move in the wind. I think they all agreed that it was just too breezy to go up at that moment. I had to be home by noon because I had to meet a wood stove guy at my house. We were going to go over an install (another post). I asked the hang gliding instructor about just taking a ride up in the ultralight. I always wanted one of them and dreamed about cruising above the treetops around the neighborhood to friend’s houses. They agreed and we started walking towards the ultralight.
I thought to myself that this was going to be a snap. After this I would hop in my car and get back home. That’s when things got interesting. The pilot and I jumped in the seats and buckled up. He started the engine and we began to taxi up and down the grass runway looking for the best spot to take off from. In such a light aircraft, you have to find where the wind is coming right towards you. I yelled out a question…”How much runway do we need to get airborn?” He yelled back, “Not much at all.” Just then, he nailed the throttle. We jolted forward at about…I would say…400MPH. After about 10 feet of my chest collapsing, we were in the air. The ultralight was bouncing around in the wind and we were going straight up. I have never in my life felt such a sensation. It was not a good one. The air began to get colder as we rose higher. I could now see Middletown below me and the airport getting smaller. Just then, I looked between my legs, down past my sneakers at the ground. THE GROUND!!!! Wait, we were now at 2500 feet and rising and I was looking down past my sneakers at the ground??? Oh crap. I decided to really try to relax and enjoy the ride. I couldn’t do it. There was so much adreneline running through my veins, my legs started to shake. I was freaking out and it was freezing. All I was wearing was a fleece.
I took a quick glance at the altimeter to see how high we were. We were now at 3000 feet and still rising. Apparently, the wind was sucking us up. With something so light and wings so big, the lift is incredible. We kept getting pulled up. After about 20 minutes of sitting in the same spot flying into the wind, I waved to the pilot, motioning politely and thinking, “Ok, you crazy bastard, let’s get the hell out of this sky and off this flying bicycle.”
He banked hard left and began to decend. We were having a tough time getting down because the wind kept pulling us up. We finally made it so the runway was straight ahead. We started decending quite rapidly. A little too fast for my taste. I swear we were going right towards the ground. I pretty much admitted to myself that we were dead. I honestly thought we were going to die. As we made our way down, down, down, the ground got closer fast. When we were about 5 feet from the ground, my arms now fully braced on the pipes on either side of me, the pilot pulled up fast. We landed quickly and smoothly. We taxied back to our place of origination and turned off the death machine. The pilot was all grins. He asked how I liked it. I mumbled out, “Great. I really had a great time.” At the same time I tried very hard to conceal the fact that my knees were almost clacking together.
Everyone on the ground who watched us go up agreed that they saw a lot of turbulence on our way up and a complete nosedive on our way down. They thought it was too windy.
I hung out for a few minutes and then got in my car to leave. I called a few friends and after about a half hour, began to relax.
If you are reading this and in any way, shape or form think that I may be exaggerating, please, be my guest and reserve your spot on the next ultralight ride out of Randall Airport in Middletown. Heh, heh. Then, give me a call and we’ll talk about it.
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