Sucking It Up

I do believe I know now where the saying, "Suck It Up" came from, and the true meaning.

After putting the first coat on the house, it's obvious that it will need a second coat. The wood is so dry it's 'sucking it up'. So I will have to do the same and suck it up doing it twice. This using the top of the line Behr brand. My poor home has been neglected longer than it should have been, so I'm paying for it now.

Also, the weather has been perfect today, after complaining yesterday, not too hot and not raining, I've been working non stop since this morning wanting to get as much done in these perfect working conditions, but I've got to take a break, just a short one.

When I go back out, I'll do the upper sections using the ladder, I've been using the roller and brush as the sprayer wasn't working out. Man I hope I can finish the south part of the house today, that might be asking too much, but at least the first coat. It's looking pretty good too :)

I'll definitely have to buy more stain, if I have to do a second coat. Sigh $$$. I've almost emptied the 5 gallon container and I'm still working on the first coat on only the area above the deck. Just doing the siding, I won't be able to do the deck until I replace a few boards.

I've been listening to HOOAH!!! RADIO while working, pretty good station.

Thanks to Mary for the reminder to crank up the tunes, that really helps my motivation. Can't boogie too much while up on the ladder though lol. Okay, back on it.

Orange Swirls

I stopped to take a picture as the swirls of paint color mixing was so pretty. After it was mixed was a different story though, it turned out to be a cheese orange, not quite the right color I was looking to put on the house.

My daughter would probably love the orange color, I will save it and modify it a bit and use it on the out buildings like the chicken coop. I didn't want the neighbors to feel like they were driving by a big chunk of Tillamook though and I have enough critters living in my house like squirrels that I will attack next week, didn't want to feel like a mouse going into the cheese lol.

So another trip down the hill to get the right color, I'm much happier with the color now. If the weather will only cooperate, it's either burning the skin off you hot, or raining it seems. I was able to get two different areas done, or one area done and a good start on the other.

Not looking forward to moving the ladder tomorrow, but it'll be good getting it off the deck.
It's such a good feeling putting the stain on the dry wood, as I stroke it on it sucks it in being so dry. It's also nice to finally get to the painting part, I've been caulking and doing the prep work forever it seems.

Before I do the deck however, I plan to replace a few redwood boards. One crucial one for support needs to be replaced pronto. It's good that I'm really scrutinizing what needs to be done and see that stuff needs repair before something goes missed and turns into a bigger job with more expense. Definitely a good feeling.

I do plan on working on the part of the house that won't be in the sun, and move around to the other side of the house as the sun hits the other side of the house. Working out in the sun today just drained me, I sat down and passed out from the heat I think. I drank a big glass of water and that was all I needed. ;)

Timely Break

I found myself outside on the top of a metal ladder during a thunderstorm. I was so wanting to get to a finishing point, or to get done with what I was working on, but thought better of it. So I climbed down from the ladder and thought I could do some of the work off the ladder, my mind wandered to remembering my superstitious dad not letting me count railroad cars or walk under ladders, well this remembered while walking under the ladder, so not wanting to totally be fucked, I came indoors. Here's a picture of my dad with my daughter when he was an older guy.

I'll wait until the storm passes, and will take a break and check some of my favorite blogs. ;) I've gotten alot done today which makes me feel very good, it's so easy to get distracted and just enjoy relaxing around here. I love my home but want to get these projects completed. I will post before and after pictures soon I hope, especially the after part.

While checking out some of my military sites, I came across this very awesome online radio station check it out. It changes with every DJ;
HOOAH!!!! Radio

Bear Snack N Go

I came home to see my dumpster knocked over and trash strewn all over. This thanksfully is only the second time it's ever happened.
Kinda reminds me of the cartoon about two polar bears looking at an igloo and one says to the other, "I just love these things, crunchy on the outside creamy on the inside." Well the bears got the creamy middle this week. While walking around picking up the trash, I really noticed how dry everything is. Even the grasses seemed to be snapping and crunching as I walked along. I hope I get a good soaking rain at some point, wishful thinking.....

Bucksnort Saloon

The beloved Bucksnort Saloon

They have a new beer on tap called Moose Drool, it was very tasty.

They had a Navy SEAL reunion here according to this, man to have had these warriors so close to my home and not know it, damn.

Crystal Lake

A girlfriend came up and we went on a walk only a couple miles down the road. I am so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of our world.

River at Crystal Lake

These videos make clear the reason for no tubing, although I don't think it would stop either of my kids heh....

The river was quite high, we passed by a few folks fishing, makes me wish I had my fishing pole.

Fireworks Flags and Celebrations!

Happy Birthday America!

Fireworks With The 1812 Overture

Never Forget Our Brave And Courageous Warriors

I visited the grave of Danny Dietz the other day, I can't believe it's been 3 years already. Remembering all of the SEAL's that lost their lives on June 28th 2005, and all that have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country and freedom, I salute you all and raise my glass in your honor.

HOOOAHH!

Denver International Airport

I picked up my daughter at the airport, this is the security area where you can't re-enter after leaving the 'secured area'. Look at the greasy goo on the wall, you can see where the security guards stand next to the wall there.

Pretty disgusting that they allow this wall to get this filthy.

Oh, and it was fun picking up my daughter, she brought back lots of goodies of bagels and pastrami from New York. ;)

Jamie's Spiritual Gathering And Some Henna Art

Jamie had a fun gathering where we all wished her well, to have an easy delivery at home, and for her baby to have good health happiness and love. We brought beads and charms representative, and had a wonderful time together.

Jamie had invited a Henna artist and we all enjoyed being her canvas;

If you look closely you can see Ziggy moving;

I had never had a Henna tattoo, here's my first one. It's a Phoenix;

Here is Danica's;

and another one;

Jonella had a Butterfly drawn on her shoulder;

Angie chose her ankle;

Arcy's;

This was one awesome hell of a cat;

Here the cat is drinking tea using a paw;

I want to have a Henna party now!

Happy Solstice!

Mark and Marty were some of the many that took advantage of the open mic, with Bob on drums. When taking this video, I stopped it too soon as Marty took off on a fabulous spontaneous jam session with his bass, sorry that I missed capturing that. It was alot of fun seeing old friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. Good food drinks and friends and the weather was a delight. There was a yule log burning out back and Cheryl's cajun cooking and Ben's liquor concoctions with Martini's were great. My daughter wasn't able to come, so missed her musical talents, both my kids were missed everyone asked me about both of them. MKO and Cheryl really put on a great party, it gets better every year if that's possible. Catching up with what everyone was doing was so much fun, I really do miss them dearly. Getting up at 4:30 AM and having a very hectic day at work I tired early and elected to go home.

I almost didn't go knowing that the asshole would be there, but went because I knew folks would be there that I wanted to see, enough to put up with the asshole. While it was wonderful seeing friends, the asshole was flaming, walking past me saying 'Hi Jan', then chuckling along with the girl that was with him when I ignored him thinking it funny I guess. I just walk away not wanting to make a scene. I will never know nor do I care why he wants to have this contact, I delete the emails, and see his name on caller ID, why he thinks I want any contact with him is incredible, what a flaming asshole. Having to pay him half the worth of my big pension retirement after being at the hospital for over 30 years, and I'm not even retired yet, and his lying at mediation angers me to no end. I obviously won't go on about all the crap here.

Happy Birthday To Me!

I had alot of fun last night. I was taken out to a Mexican restaurant for salsa dancing, good food and great company. With drinking the twirling was a bit much but fun all the same.

I woke up this morning to a beautifully decorated cake with fruits that were delicious. thanks for the fun celebration, it was the best.

The end to a perfect birthday, my son called me ;) to wish me a Happy Birthday. Thanks honey.

May Day!

Happy May Day! I remember when I was in elementary school dancing around the Maypole. Weaving in and around other kids dancing going the opposite direction, the ribbons looked pretty tangled when we were done, but what a fun time that was. I wonder why we don't see this fun practice done much anymore.
May mentally gives me thoughts of warmth and springtime flowers, birds singing and the wonderful smells of all the new growth around us. Funny that it's snowing today lol. This snow should be gone quickly though, and oh how I wish that I had my grass seed down to fill in some of the bare spots in my yard. Damn.
Today is also a very important day as it's my daughter's birthday! It's fun to tell folks that I have a Mayday baby ;)
Happy Birthday honey!
I'm going to spend the afternoon and evening with her and we'll have a fun celebration with good friends, spaghetti with a killer italian sausage sauce, asparagus, garlic bread, cake, ice cream and wine.
I loaded up the car last night before the snow started so I wouldn't have to do it in the snow. Man am I glad I did that. I have about 4 inches of snow, not alot of accumulation, but it's really coming down, a typical spring storm.
I wish my son could be here with us, we'll bring him to this fun celebration in our hearts.

April Fool's Day Void

Well, today is/has been April Fool's Day.
I feel a bit sad, that I never heard from my son who always 'gets me' on this date.
I know he's busy doing what he's doing, sigh.
I almost feel like we have a silent connection thinking of each other on this date ;)

I spoke with my daughter today, and told her that I haven't been 'fooled' today, and she told me "well the day isn't over yet".

I usually come up with some random silliness to pull on someone but just couldn't think of anything that wasn't lame.

I guess there's always next year.....

April Fool's Day Eve.....

Well, I'm gearing myself up for the April Fool's Day jokes that will I'm sure be played on me.
It's just surprising how a person can get caught off guard even while being aware. So many times I've forgotten, or have been thinking about something else, well this year it'll be different.

I only wish I could think of a fun one this year to play on my kids. Damn it, they always see right through me.

Woman Visits Lion

This woman finds a lion. Yes, that’s right, a lion. The lion is sick and malnourished. She spends the next few years nursing it back to health. Once healthy, she calls the local zoo and says, “Hey, I have a lion here that I found sick and nursed back to health. Do you have space for it?” Sure enough the zoo shows up and gets the lion. They get it accustomed to his new home and when he is settled in, the lady comes for a visit. Check out this link;

link

The Elk Are Back!

The Elk are back! By the time I got my camera out they had gone down the hill more, but what beautiful animals they are.

Berzerkley

Nothing says "I support our troops" like burning the flag at a rally in front of a recruiting station.

link

This is an insult to all brave service men, women, their families and to those of us that have a brain.
The First Amendment gives the City of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money. I hope all federal funds are held, this display of unpatriotic BS is outrageous. To not want to allow the Marines in this city to have a recruitment center is so very wrong.
For the City Council to allow this Code Pink hate group to park on a city street unapposed in front of the Marine Recruitment Center showing their support for Code Pink's beliefs is Ridiculous. Plus the preferential treatment given to this group, others may want to have this parking space but are denied because of it being given freely to Code Pink.
I do believe in the freedom of speech, however this location blocks traffic as well, see photo below it's ridiculous. To also be allowed a foghorn is more than distracting I'm sure to traffic and other pedestrians wanting to pass by.
By protesting in this manner those that want to join in our military, are prevented/blocked by these protesters stomping all over their rights to enter. You can compare this type of protesting to the pro life supporters blocking those wanting to go into Planned Parenthood.
Different cause, same ideology, except here there are no limits to how close they can get......

Chief Petty Officers Nathan H. Hardy and Michael E. Koch

Navy SEAL's who died in Iraq .....

Honor the Fallen ............. February 4, 2008.

Navy SEAL's

Blackfive link

God bless Nate and Mike, and thank you for your service, in protecting me, my family and our country. My thoughts and prayers go out to your family and your teammates as well still out there fighting the fight. Warriors like you with your integrity and honor make me so proud to be an American. We need more of the likes of you representing our country to others throughout the world.Regarding the angry American (refer to Blackfive below); HOOYAH! Thanks for your service as well, it's warriors like you that make me proud. We need to keep up the good fight.

Thanks to Blackfive:
Last Sunday while most of America was enjoying the Superbowl several members of our Task Force were commencing an assault on a terrorist stronghold in Iraq. During the assault two of our brothers from the Navy were shot and killed while clearing a building that was occupied by terrorist insurgents. Ultimately, the building was reduced and all of the terrorists in it were destroyed by the assault force. Remember these names, Mike and Nate. They were good men doing honorable work in the name of freedom. The terrorists they sought to destroy were responsible for unspeakable acts of evil including the construction of improvised explosive devices and explosives to equip homicide bombers. For those of you who may not understand the enemy we face out here let me remind you that the previous week this group of terrorists took two innocent and unwitting women who had Downs Syndrome, rigged them with explosive vests and detonated them 20 minutes apart in a crowded market causing several deaths and hundreds of injuries. These terrorists used innocent people as unwitting vehicles to destroy more innocent lives. There is good and there is evil in this world. The enemy we face is evil. Mike and Nate were fighting on the side of good to prevent further acts of evil that would result in the loss of more innocent lives. The next time you pray I ask you to thank God for giving Mike and Nate the talent and skill that made them great warriors and thank God that he gave them the heart to apply those God given talents to destroy evil and further the cause of freedom in a land far from their home. Thank God for men like Mike and Nate. Their work is done here now, but there are many of us who will honor their sacrifice by continuing the fight against evil terrorists. They will be remembered through our actions.
For any of you out there who are doubting the validity of this war and the evil that resides in our enemy I ask you to study your history again. Over the last 20+ years dating back to the bombing of the Marine Corps Barracks in Lebanon, various factions of radical Islamic Terrorists have been committing heinous acts of terrorism against the free world. We are fighting the same enemy here. The brethren of an evil ideology that spawned the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001 claiming almost 3,000 innocent lives. Take time to reflect on the type of evil that would put explosive vests on innocent women with Downs Syndrome and use them to kill and maim other innocent people. While the American media strives everyday to rewrite the history of the most generous nation in the free world and cast disparity over all that we do as a Nation men like Mike and Nate are giving their lives to make sure the real history doesn't repeat itself. While the American media strives daily to erase the memory of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and paint this war as an unjust occupation of a sovereign nation men like Mike and Nate are out here hunting down and destroying the enemies of the very freedom that allows our media to try and discredit us. Terrorism is real, evil is real, this war is real and real men and women are in this fight because righteousness and freedom are worth fighting for.
If you don't support this war I'm calling you out. I've had enough of people sitting in their living rooms watching the lying media and jumping on the bandwagon against this war. Don't ever say to me, "I support the troops, but not the war." You might as well be telling me that I'm committing a crime. You are in effect saying that my cause is unjust and everything I believe in is a lie. I have held my tongue in the past, but I will never allow you to have it both ways again. You cannot support me if you do not support this war. I am this war. It embodies everything that I believe in. If you believe that what we are doing here is wrong then you are in effect supporting the evil we seek destroy. If you believe I'm wrong for trying to stop evil people from taking more innocent lives then I fear there is no hope for you. If you choose to dishonor my service and the sacrifice of my fallen brothers by taking a position against this war you are free to make that choice thanks to guys like Mike and Nate, but don't expect me to sit idly by and bite my tongue while you do it. Do it in my presence and be prepared to try and support your feeble position while I enlighten everyone else on the reality of this war and the nature of the enemy we face. I will ensure that you look like the fool that you are.
The stuff I'm seeing out here you won't see on Oprah Winfrey. I'm seeing really evil people doing really evil things and I'm doing everything in my power to stop them. There's nothing wrong or unjust about that.
Sincerely,
_________ the Angry American

It Ain't A Rebate....

Politically Incorrect Sign