Being Busy Does Not Always Mean Real Work.... -T. Edison

I realize it has been a dormant summer on here; but I'm totally cool with that, because it has not been dormant elsewhere!  This post will not be long or detailed, though it should entertain some, annoy and bore others....generally falling in line with what a blog is supposed to do.

First of all, we have had a fantastic lawn installed by Jason McFarland and Lawns In Order Landscaping.  Here is a before and after shot:

 You can see that some of the lawn is still seeding in, but it is looking very nice indeed!!!

Along the way, grass wasn't the only thing growing.  Our back deck was being overrun with blackberry bushes and other assorted parts of the curse:

Hon, Aiden (a neighbor kid I employ from time to time), Brett and I removed the bushes with the tractor, a task that caused Brett to fall asleep while running the loader.  We then laid down landscaping fabric, spread down crushed rock and added the finishing touches:

About the time this was done, my bro asks me if we would like a patio.  As fast as we could say yes, a plan was presented with general consent.  He has been working very hard this past week, but it is coming together very nicely:

It should be finished sometime first of the week.  We are really looking forward to cozy evening around the fire pit!!

As with any project, the more you do something the better you become at doing it.  This has been the case with projects this summer as our laborers gain experience and expertise on the heavy equipment:

"I didn't call in sick this morning; I called in well, and told them how great it felt not being at work today!"

Today was my first day off this spring.  The carpers out there tell me that I have had more than one day off since the 20th of March, but it's not true, at least not in my book.  Spring is not a season with a definite beginning and ending.  Spring is an experience....a feeling that comes over you when you go outside and realize, for the first time, that winter is over.  Spring came on a Thursday this year, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

The day began blandly enough.  I have been attempting to set up a MySQL database remote access from my laptop through a Microsoft Access ODBC connection.  The benefit of grasping this technology is immense, since I will then have virtually limitless database software options.  I have spent 10-15 hours so far this week trying to figure it out, including hours online with reps that are supposed to know these things.  I am getting close, but the solution yet remains at the end of the rainbow.  I could post a picture at this point of my progress, but somehow it seems rather anticlimactic, don't you think? 

At 7:30 this morning, my tractor awoke from its hibernation.  Jay dropped it back off for me after having used it for most of the winter to fill his sander in the back of his 1-ton plow truck.  It was a busy winter for plowing and I hope the arrangement has been mutually agreeable!  Needless to say, my excitement, though well contained, knew no bounds.   He even dropped of some diesel fuel for it as well, and we spent a short while attempting to attach the power-broom attachment to the front.  This proved to be a more difficult task than the name "Quick Hitch" implied.  As Jay and I pointed out to Hon, "the 'quick' part is something you get to experience after the 'hitch' part is already on."  Forty-five minutes (and about a quart of grease) later, we arose victorious.  This was my first experience with a PTO attachment and I had to place a couple of phone calls to more experienced people to get the job done.  I need to replace a bearing in the broom and do some lubricating, but I think it will work well.  I'm optimistic that it can be used for spring cleanup this year!

Hon and I wanted to go to town to pick out some flooring today.  We are getting a new kitchen in May and wanted to get some new flooring down while the chance was good.  Before heading out, though, I took Brett for a short ride on the tractor:

"He" enjoyed it so much we had TWO rides today!

  

Around 11:00 AM, my lovely wife having finished getting yet lovelier, we headed to town to do some R&D.  We returned around 2:30 after selecting the desired products for future purchase.  I was feeling like Tim the Tool Man by this point and returned to my Tonka Toy for an hour or so, working on a tree that had blown down during the winter:

Hon, Winky and I headed back to Ellsworth in the evening to pick up some stuff and get an ice cream at Blueberry Hill.  That's right, we went twice today and both involved food.  What is wrong with us?  After returning again, we cleaned up from the day and had some family time.

Spring is a funny thing!  I find myself excited once again to get up and do whatever, including going to work.  Spring is just that big...that enormous.  Spring is here and things are coming back to life.  Today I could feel the green coming.   I could smell, and even DRIVE green!  Life is Good!

People ask me what I do during winter when there is nothing to do. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.

I am officially through with hearing the obnoxious weather-people predicting the winter equivalent of the apocalypse.  I am even more officially through with them being occasionally correct.  While the last explosion of snow was predictably not as bad as predicted, its severity had the mental effect normally reserved for national disasters.  Winter is supposed to end March 21, and spring is to be waiting in the wings to take over. 

Business had been decent this month until yesterday, when everything froze...

...solid!

I probably shouldn't complain.  After all, my Tonka Toy is due back any day now (allegedly).

"In less enlightened times, the best way to impress women was to own a hot car. But women wised up and realized it was better to buy their own hot cars so they wouldn't have to ride around with jerks." -Scott Adams

Not only did women realize this, but dealerships soon realized that women realized it.  It's not that a deep magenta camaro isn't cool in its own right, just that the appeal might be greater to someone other than myself.  I subscribe to the school of thought that teaches that "just about any vehicle looks fantastic....when it has a 14 day license plate on the back." 

 

That being said, I thought you ladies out there would appreciate the vehicle that I most recently added to my inventory: (click on the link below for additional details)

 

2014 Chevrolet Camaro 2LT

 

With that out of the way, I thought a his/hers comparison would be cool! 

 

2013 Chevrolet ZL1 Camaro:

 

 

 

 

 

Now THAT is a cool car.  Granted, there is a $20,000 difference between the vehicles, with the ZL1 sporting a 6.2L V8 with a Supercharger, giving you 505 horses under the hood.  It will go from zero to fast immediately, burning rubber in the first 4 gears even with traction control on.  Actually, the man-car I sold to a bloke in North Carolina.  Had it trucked down for him so it wouldn't get too many miles on it.  :-)

 

"Let us rise up and build..."

Ok, so you might have noticed that my blog has been inactive for, say, the last few years or so.  Alternatively, you may have noticed that it was inactive for a few weeks, then stopped checking it altogether....starting sometime in mid-2012.  In the mean time, A Maine Wife has been a great source to keep track of our insanity.  In an effort to improve viewership (with 1 or 2 viewers being an improvement) I decided to reinvent myself and attempt to keep this forum more current.

Here are some of the things you will find in the days to come:

• Poll questions (please let me know if you have any ideas)
• Pictures and movies about stuff (but not boring "this is what is left over from my Raviolli" ones like Facebook....you all know the ones I'm talking about.)
• Links to helpful places and pages on the internet.
• Tech advice (please feel free to submit questions for feedback).
• Life hacks that could make your lift easier.
• Other things I don't even know about yet.

Anyway, please check back often as you never know what might appear or disappear.