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This is Topic: Various News
Following are the News Items published under this Topic.
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Don't Worry, Be Happy!
Don’t let your victories go to your head, or your failures go to your heart.
The mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work unless it’s open.
Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry.
He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.
God, if I can’t have what I want, let me want what I have.
And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.
You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough.
Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
One faces the future with one’s past.
Suffering brings experience.
Experience is a comb which nature gives us when we are bald.
God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas, but for scars.
A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.
(Click on the Read more... line in the gray bar below to see more of these great quotes.)
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This post has nothing to do with controversy, observation or opinion. Nor will it impact the nation's GNP, relate to the CPI or interest the FBI, NSA or CIA. In fact, in the eyes of posterity these ramblings will eventually melt into the annals of history, never to be read again in perhaps no more than a year...or a month, if I'm lucky.
See, I'm going to mention that this afternoon, when it was about 95 degrees or so outside, I decide to finish painting the cement fundation of our home. Prior to tis it was unfinsished, gray in hue, unappealing and drab in appearance. I'd actually thought about finishing this project for the past week or so but never managed to pick up the roller to finish the job. That is, until today.
For some reason, the heat and uncomfortable humidity attacted me to head out to the back of the house and apply pigment to foundation. Luckily, this area of our home is out of the sun in the afternoon so I was comfortble at least in that regard. An hour or two of paint roller activity and the project was finally finished.
See? I told you that this post was totally irrelevant to anything significant I might have previously addressed in the past. But the back of our house is painted and it doesn't look too bad, if I must say so myself.
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80 Comments   |
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Well, this has certainly been a fine kettle of fish! Netscrapes.com has been down for the count for about the past week & a half. reason? Bandwidth problems, folks. Seems that there are enough readers visiting this little spot on the 'Net to create problems at my end. I'm told I need to purchase more of this "stuff" so my readers aren't left with the infamous "Bandwidth Exceeded" notice toward the end of each month.
I'm gonna see how to get around this problem & apologize to readers who have missed my musings for the past 10 days or so.
And so, you may ask, what can you look forward to if you come back to this humble web site? Well, I can't honsetly say what the heck will flow from my brain, down to my fingers, onto my keyboard & eventually make its way onto this page. So, if you still have a hankering for additioanl drivel from me, stop back soon. My ruminations are unique and eminate from the heart.
See you soon, my friends.
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81 Comments |
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Expressions
Posted by: Jack on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 05:06 PM |
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Here are origins of some common expressions we've all used at one time or another in our everyday language:
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence, the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all, the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, “Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.”
Houses had thatched roofs--thick straw--piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence, the saying, “It's raining cats and dogs.”
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence, the saying, “dirt poor.” The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way. Hence the saying a thresh hold.
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, “Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.”
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach into the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers were given the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family received the middle, and guests received the top, or the upper crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence, the custom of holding a wake.
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.
How 'bout dem apples?
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Apologies
Posted by: Jack on Friday, May 02, 2008 - 03:02 PM |
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I believe I owe all readers who come to this web site a sincere apology. You see, it seems that I haven't finished the last few articles I've started. If you could just give me another
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55 Comments |
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Dog Stories
Posted by: Jack on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 02:15 PM |
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Well, I've recently made a number of updates to one of my other sites, Netscrapes.com.
If you're ineterested in a site that's geared toward our canine companions, click HERE.
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55 Comments |
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Now, perhaps the web sites I'm linking to below aren't weird...they might be just off the beaten path a bit. In any event, you can click on the links and make your own decision on their existence.
Enjoy!
Everyday Mysteries: Things we take for granted are explained HERE.
Functions of Google you might not know about. Click HERE to see what else the quintessential search emgine can do.
Coffee, mud, joe, java, etc...how does caffeine work? Click HERE to see how it works.
Here's a great classical music web site. Clcik HERE.
Traffic flow around the USA, including live web cam shots!. Click HERE.
Convert anything to any other thing. Click HERE.
Urban legends? Go to Snopes! Click HERE.
Need help with homework? Click HERE.
Famous...and infamous...speeches. Click HERE.
Info on US Presidents. Click HERE.
Ever hear a song & wonder who first recorded it? Click HERE to find out!
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39 Comments |
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If you've read posts on this site from this past summer, you'd have learned that we moved to a very rural area last spring. Sure, it's an hour's commute to where I earn the greenbacks to pay the mortgage on the new place. But when I come home in the evening, I pull into a driveway overlooking a view of trees, hills, deer and assorted other niceties of nature.
Then, there's the contentment of the area itself, perhaps best evidenced by what occurred this moring. But, a little background information first. This past week, my work days were consumed with a massive P/C-based applicationn that affected the paychecks of practically all of our 1,600+ employees. It was an assignment that required my absolute attention, so I was thankful there's a door on my office I could close so I could maintain my concentration.
The job went off well, basically without a hitch, but the stress I placed on myself was telling to my family. I had spent a night or two tossing & turning, undoubtedly due to my daytime responsibilities that permeated my attempts at sleep.
One last scintilla of background information: around mid-week there was a wind storm that knocked down a tree in our yard. Now, a brief diversion so I can explain that our yard must be at least ten times larger than the postage stamp we called out yard where we used to live. As a point of reference, it took me about 45 minutes walking back & forth with a Craftsman mower to cut the lawn at the old house. The new one takes about two hours, but we now use a Cub Cadet riding mower with a 50" cutting radius!
So, I get up this morning & take a walk outside. Sure enough, the mid-week wind storm had toppled a dead tree onto our split rail fence down at the bottom of our property. I grabbed my trusty hand saw & proceeded to cut the offending tree to portable-sized logs that can be used some point in the future when we install a wood buring stove in our abode.
And, yes, we have a chain saw I could have used for this project. But it's a well known fact that heavy physical activity is a great reducer of stress. After today's exersize, I beleive I can confidentally state that I'm un-stresseed as hell!
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Contact me!
Posted by: Jack on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 06:31 PM |
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If you want to reach me, then send an e-mail to me by clicking HERE.
Now, I don't bite & certainly would love to hear from you. Believe it or not, I've had this web site up & runnin' for over five years and have yet to hear from one of my readers.
Is my drivel really that bad? Are my participles dangling too openly? What's wrong with me?
Please drop me a line by clicking HERE.
Come on, you can do it! As one Ed Koch, former mayor extraordinaire of NYC was wont to say, how am I doing?
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59 Comments |
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In addition to Netscrapes.com, I also jot down a word or two at my other web site. You can click HERE to be transported immediately to the Presto Dog web site. As you can imagine, this site's for and about our best friend, the dog.
We have five (yup, f...i...v...e) dogs - four Shetland Sheepdogs and a tri-color Collie. The Shelties, by age, are Lyric, Lily, Declan and Maggie; the Collie is named Dougie. All of 'em are great, each possessing a unique personality.
A bit about the dogs. Lyric (pictured here) is the mother of Declan (shown here) & grandmother of Maggie (pictured here). Lil'l Maggie is a show dog & has already earned a couple of ribbons in the ring. Lily (shown here) is a sweet dog, and usually gets whatever she wants by being so afectionate. Dougie is a clown, and probably thinks he's merely an over-sized Sheltie; click here to see a picture of him. When we take Maggie to shows, of course we hang out with the Sheltie crowd. So Dougie's thought proccesses are probably reinforced: he's an over-sized giant Sheltie.
As an earlier post down below this one alluded to, I'm gonna find out how to post pictures via html coding in a little while. In the meantime, if you wanna see a few digital pictires of the dogs or read about their antics, follow this link to be amused, laugh a bit and learn more about the Presto Dogs.
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Ol' Time TV
Posted by: Jack on Saturday, January 05, 2008 - 06:51 AM |
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Well, it's Saturday morning, and before I start with my day's activities I turned on the TV. On the TV Land channel, the old-time TV show Leave It Toeaver was on. In case you don't recall, it's about the antics a young lad gets into during his elementary/high school years while living in a small US town. Accompanying the Beaver on his journey through life are his Dad (Ward), Mom (June) and older brother, Wally.
Dad is always dressed in a suit, usually even when he sits down to dinner. Mom is similarly attired (not in a suit but rather) in a dress, finely appointed with pearls around her neck. The house the family lives in is always impeccable, the lawn perfect and the two boys always addressed their father with "yes, sir;" other formalities were extended to adults the kids would occasion with during their daily activities.
Now, this TV show took place during the early '60s, certainly a time when the US was quite innocent. And, I'm not espousing that kids should use a perfunctory"yes, sir" when speaking to adults men. But is it my imagination or does this old show point out that something is missing in our society today? Sure, I guess it could be considered a semi-situation comedy, but check it out & see if the innocence portrayed, the respect shown to adults, the ease with which everyone gets along is a veritable indictment against the society we live in today.
Life imitating art? I think not, but perhaps we could learn a lesson from "the way it used to be."
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Great Pictures
Posted by: Jack on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 03:32 PM |
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A couple of years ago, I used to post pictures along with the drivel I posted here at Netscrapes.com . Wonder why I haven't done that lately? Well, it's simply 'cause I've been too darn lazy to look up the htlm coding that lets me insert 'em where they belong!
Is that the epitome of sloth or what?
Anyway, one of the resolutions I've made is to dig up the code in question so I can entertain you with my view(s) of the world. It's really not a big deal. As a matter of fact, I can just look up how I did it in a prior post, copy, find a new picture and insert it where I want.
In any event, come back as I'm gonna get this thing under my belt. And, of all the things in the world I could have chosen, are you wwondering why I selected conquering html coding as one ofmy new year's resolutions?
Some would say I gotta get a life. But, rest assured the afore mentioned resolution is but one I made. I'll share others with you in a future post.
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31 Comments |
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Yup...it's that time of year again. As a matter of fact, it's the first day of the year, and that usually means one thing to most people...the time of year most folks take the time to make those infamous, herart wrenching, thought provoking commitments-otherwise known as resolutions...that are just as usually broken within a week...if not sooner. So, my tome this morning will deal with that topic-resolutions.
One web site I visited while researching this article (about.com) lists the top ten new year's resolutions people make each year:
- spend more time with family and friends
- get in shape lose weight
- stop smoking
- enjoy life more
- stop drinking
- get out of debt
- learn something new
- help
- others get organized
But, folks seem to need some help in these endeavors. Here are a few ideas that can help people keep the resolutions they might make:
Avoid perfectionist thinking. While we certainly always want to better ourselves, it is healthier to think in positive terms than it is to focus on how much we fall short of our aspirations. In other words, students should view the grade of an A- as better than a B, rather than not as good as an A.
View setbacks as lessons for growth. Mistakes can be and usually are opportunities for learning. If you fall short of your goals, ask yourself what kept you from achieving them and then try to make corrections. People who like to sail understand this navigational concept. You almost never go directly from point A to point B. You set a course and periodically take readings of your position then make adjustments as you go along.
Don't make absolute resolutions. Keep them realistic. For example, Dubin suggests that instead of saying you won't yell at your kids anymore, resolve to yell at them less often.
Don't keep your resolutions to yourself. Tell someone you trust about your resolutions. Dubin said that it helps to share your goals with friends, who can gently nudge you in the right direction when you veer off course.
Give them some meaning. According to RachBeisel, people sometimes make goals that aren't necessarily meaningful to them. Your goal should be something you really desire to change or achieve, not something that society says is good for you to do or your family members would like to see you do. If you don't have strong, internal motivation within yourself, you won't be successful.
Take baby steps. Set realistic goals that are attainable and then take small steps that are likely to be met with success toward those goals. Don't try to lose 10 pounds in a week or quitting smoking cold turkey with no preparation. Instead, try joining a weight loss program and try to lose a pound a week, or join a smoking cessation group.
Fine-tune your spirituality. Dubin said that it is important to add a spiritual dimension to your goals. For example, if one of your goals is to get fit, you may also resolve to get outdoors more often instead of going to the gym. Time outside will help you get in balance with nature, and will honor both the physical and spiritual sides of yourself.
(Thanks to the Univ. of MD for those tips.)
And, here are some resolutions made by some top entrepreneurs:
Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad
"To be a better communicator—vs. a 'better curser.' I keep blaming the Marine Corp. for the fact that I curse a lot...and in the new year, I'll work on swearing less and communicating better."
Alex Tew, creator of MillionDollarHomepage.com
"My New Year's resolution is to have more time to think. It's really easy to get bogged down in day-to-day issues and not have perspective or freedom to think creatively."
Jen Bilik, founder and owner of Knock Knock
"For business, my resolution is to move further ahead in our development cycle by starting to develop products earlier and give longer lead time. I'd also like to spend less time on administrative matters, and more time on creative development and strategy. On a personal level, I'd like to minimize my own crankiness and exercise regularly, regardless of my workload. I'll try to walk my dog daily--she deserves it, and it's good for me, too. I plan to eat healthy meals more consistently and work on reviving my personal life."
Joseph Einhorn, co-founder and CTO of Inform Technologies
"My resolution is to become a better listener and to listen more closely to our customers."
Mark A. Emalfarb, president and CEO of Dyadic International, Inc.
"To continue making great strides to further our scientific discoveries and to commercialize them into products that will improve health care, reduce the world's addiction to oil and ultimately provide a healthier, cleaner, brighter future for our children."
Sona Mehring, founder and executive director of CaringBridge
"To take compassion, technology and CaringBridge to new heights. To reach out and help more and more families going through a health crisis. I want to have a minimum of 250,000 CaringBridge sites created, connecting 2.5 million people."
Gerald Prolman, founder and CEO of OrganicBouquet.com
"To do all I can every day to make a positive and meaningful difference"
David Roth, president and CEO, and Rick Bacher, CCO, of Cereality Cereal Bar & Café
"We both have the same New Year's resolution: to take back Saturday morning! As you probably know, our whole business is built on the promise of delivering a Saturday morning experience to each of our customers, no matter what time of day or week they visit us. So we make it our mission, personally and professionally, to instill the spirit of Saturday morning in everything we do--especially when it comes time to make New Year's resolutions!"
Donald Trump, chair and president of The Trump Organization
"My New Year's resolution for 2007 is to make 2007 the best year ever!"
Greg Ubert, founder and president of Crimson Cup
"To get 100 percent of Crimson Cup's employees involved with Junior Achievement."
Debbie Weiner, co-founder of Sugar Sweet Sunshine
"Everyday I read a passage from my Angel Wisdom book. There was one passage that seemed profound to me even though I'm sure I've read it before. It seemed so simple, it's titled, "Happiness": Live in the now and be awake to new experiences. See events as interesting and instructive instead of good or bad. Accept people as they are. Give up suffering and worrying. Be generous with my love.
"One more resolution is to get myself ready for MORE magazine's half-marathon for women age 40-plus. Forty rocks so far."
Tina Wells, CEO of Buzz Marketing Group
"My resolution is to take six trips outside the United States next year. London and Zurich are at the top of my list!"
Lena L. West, founder and CEO of xynoMedia Technology
"I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions. In the past when I've set resolutions and didn't quite stick to them, it made me subconsciously doubt my inner resolve and that didn't feel good. So, I started working with one of the top wellness coaches in the country, Cheryl Miller, and she helped me to shift my thoughts and plans for the incoming year to a New Year's evolution.
"My New Year's 'evolution' is to make going on silent retreats an annual tradition. For the past two years, I've been saying I want to go on a silent retreat--this year, I made it happen. Alone, with no books, music, magazines, radio, internet, computer or TV, I spent three days at a women's retreat center in bucolic Cornwall-on-Hudson. The first day-and-a-half was pure hell, but I stuck with it and the remainder of my stay was pure bliss. I got unprecedented clarity about my business and my life. I made a list of everything that was no longer serving the business and transitioned those relationships and agreements immediately upon my return to the office. The results? A stress-free annual strategy session, and now we're only involved in projects that are in alignment with the direction of the company. I'm inching way up to two weeks of total silence which is a huge stretch, so in 2007, I'll up the ante slightly to five days."
(Thanks to Entrepreneur magazine.)
Are yout goals money-orienteds? Here are four good tips from about.com on setting financial goals:
Step 1: Identify and write down your financial goals, whether they are saving to send your kids to college, buying a new car, saving for a down payment on a house, going on vacation, paying off credit card debt, or planning for retirement.
Step 2: Break each financial goal down into several short-term (less than 1 year), medium-term (1 to 3 years) and long-term (5 years or more) goals.
Step 3: Educate yourself! Read Money magazine, or a book about investing, or surf the Internet's investing web sites. The stock market is not voodoo. With a little effort you can learn enough to make educated decisions that will increase your net worth many times over. Then identify small, measurable steps you can take to achieve these goals, and put this action plan to work.
Step 4: Evaluate your progress. Review your progress monthly, quarterly, or at any other interval you feel comfortable with, but at least semi-annually, to determine if your program is working. If you're not making satisfactory progress on a particular goal, re-evaluate your approach and make changes as necessary.
Good luck in the new year in whatever resolutions you may make!
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As visitors to this site probably already know, we moved to a rural area about seven monts ago. The summer seemed to be as warm as it was in the old area we lived in, about 85 miles or so east from our current residence, but it seems the winter is a bit colder than what we'd previously experienced.
And then there's the sky. About a week or two ago, as I travelled home from my day job, I glanced up at the sky & saw a beautiful pink and blue canvas, with puffs of billowing clouds punctuating Mother Nature's attempt to mimic Van Gough, Degas and other mere humans. Nolo contendre, she won..
We'll shortly be heading out to continue our Christmas shopping. Yesterday, I took of from work & we performed in a simiar manner, making a huge dent in our attempts to support the U.S. economy.
But, I make those statements with a smile on my face. Our van is nice and roomy, there's money in our checking account and it's really not necessary to make any overt efforts to squirrel away our purchases from prying little eyes.
So, I'll sign off for now, get my wallet and venture out into the wilds of the mall and other stores to finish shopping. My bride will be with me, and we'll probably even stop for a pleasant lunch while we're out.
Are you done with your shopping yet?
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59 Comments |
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A few posts ago (or, perhaps it was a few months ago!), I wrote ad nauseum about the problems I thought I'd anticipate when I finally got around to hanging up our new microwave oven in our new kitchen in our new home. I peseverated about the weight of the darn thing and how ever was I going to place the thing on the wall? Or, that the cabinet it was to be afied to was too low; how was I going to raise it? Or, would the whole project need to be abandonded because the thing simply wouldn't fit in the space provided?
Fast forward to just a weekend or two ago. Take a walk into our kitchen & you'll see the aforementioned microwave hanging up just fine, thank you very much. The cabinet was raised with practically no effort at all; just needed to unscrew it from the ones to the left & right, shove the thing up 8" or so, and then screw it into the 2x4s at its new height. The oven hung at the rear via two screws drilled into 2x4s as well as two molly screws that expanded as they were tightened (screwed) into the sheetrock wall. Now, don't worry, these were used per the specs on the manufacturs instructions that I follwed to the proverbial "t."
It looks great!
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A guy at work sent me some AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES:
1. When choking on an ice cube, simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat. Presto! The blockage will instantly remove itself.
2. Avoid cutting yourself slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold while you chop.
3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink.
4. To treat high blood pressure: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer.
5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.
6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, then you will be afraid to cough.
7. You only need two tools in life - WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.
8. When confused remember.....everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
See? Life doesn't have to be so difficult!
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47 Comments |
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We've all seen pictures of huge, testosterone engorged hulks flexing their muscles in a grotesque example of body-building gone mad. Smiling for the cameras, teeth dazzling when contrasted against their perfectly tanned faces, these behemoths with huge biceps are the envy of every school boy who's ever been picked on, harrassed on a bus or shoved around in a cafeteria.
Then there are the contestants in the world's strongest man competitions. Lifting barrels filled with sand, heavy boat anchors and tugging 747 airliners to the delight of screaming fans with the apparent ease of an ant picking up a bread crump several times its own weight, rivals vie for the coveted afore mentioned title in herculean tests of strength and endurance.
Consider professional football players. The guys who clog up the middle of the playing field on Sunday afternoons seem to go at least 300 lbs and tower to heights of 6'8" or taller. Videos of them in weight training shows spandex-laden torsoes that bulge with muscles that have expnded to monsterous sizes over the years.
Are these considered the epitome of strength to me? Not in the slightest. Because I knew a man who was not blessed with the physical stature of a man as you might expect. Labeled a dwarf at the time, at birth his mother was told he would probably only live to be about two or three years old and then expire. However, a normal childhood instead ensued. Normal in the chronological sense of the word, that is.
Who among us gets laughed at when we merely go for a walk down the street? Which of us is stared at when we go to the store? Have any of us been followed around by a group of people, gawked at and made to feel less of a person than whom we are? Who could stand such pressure?
Only a strong person. A really, really strong person. That was my Uncle Gerry.
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Sure, I go on and on and on about this damn project I've undertaken...putting up a post 'n rail fence around our home.
So, to make it quick and let you go back to whatever it is you really and truly want to do, I'll simply say that between yesterday and today, I've managed to put up 250' of the darn thing. All the fuss is 'cause until it's up and I've attached chicken wire to it, I can't let my five dogs run free like they used to in the back yard of our prior home.
I figure I only have about 250' or so to go, not including the four gates I'll also need to afix to posts to allow access into & out of our soon-to-be playground for my canine friends.
And, just think...once I'm done with this monster job, I won't be boring you with Cub Cadet concettas, , post hole digger arias, chain saw sonatas or other hyperbole that puts you to sleep!
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Forgive me. I'm going to cram this little corner of the 'Net called Netscrapes.com with yet some more bits & bytes about the fence I'm constructing around our property.
Nearly three months ago (the exact date was 5/16/07), we moved from a suburban home in an area that was simply growing way too rapidly for us to a very rural one. How rural you may ask? Well, we have cows for neighbors and usually every morning there's a flock of wild turkeys in our back yard scavanging around for their breakfast.
Furniture's all been placed, rooms painted, curtains hung, and then we turned our attention outside. Our land is nice, but we're used to having a fenced-in yard so we can simply open the back door & let our five dogs out to play. And that is a great segue into our topic du jour...installing a Post 'n Rail Fence. (If you're keeping track, this is Part III of this on-going saga.)
Today, it was 90+degrees outside...a great day to spend indoor with the A/C cranking away. But what did I decide to do? Right; do more work on the fence in question. Today I assembled another 110' of fencing, this time at the far end of the property. I elected this area because it was relatively shady down there; I really didn't want to endure the full blazing sun.
I used our Cub Cadet tractor with new garden wagon attached to the rear to haul my post hole diggers, shovel, water, sledge hammer & a variety of other tools and accessories I've found I needed to put up the fence.
It was tough work, the difficulties mostly attbibuted to the heat of the day. Since I had needed to go to the store to pick up the last of the hardware for the fence, I didn't start on assembly until around 1:00 p.m., just about the hottest part of the day. The job only took about an hour to complete, but as I noted it was difficult. And, the reason I only worked for an hour was because I was dead tired!
I'll probably bore you some more as I approach the completion of this project. Once it's done, I'll probably go back to boring you with the details of how I move along with the microwave oven installation that's been put on hold.
If you can spare a minute, here's my other site (www.Prestodog.com) where you can read even more about my adventures with the fence as well as get to know my five (yes, 5) dogs.
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Here's a picture of our dogs:
all five 2
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Well, if you're a returning reader of this little web site, you're probably wondering what the heck happened; why was it "down" for so long?
Turns out I had a bandwidth problem. I read the definition of same and don't know what the heck they're talking about! The best this layman can determine, this meant that I had somehow used up all the space available that lets folks like you access sites like mine. FYI, I share this same bandwidth with another person so I guess his applications ate up the space that was otherwise needed to keep my humble site up & running.
BTW, I had no problems keeping my other web site (www.Prestodog.com) up and running for the past month. Follow the link if you like dogs; it's all about them, their environment and the lengths we go to keep 'em happy.
Anyway, Netscrapes.com is back, at least for the better part of this month. Once again, as best as I can determine, as the days go by & more bandwidth is devoured by hungry 'Net surfers like you who flock to my site, less & less bandwidth is left. So, until I apparently fork over more $$$ for more of the precious bandwidth, I may encounter similar "down" time in the future. The alternative is for less and less people to visit my site. Now, considering I'm posting my words here for all the world to see, that seems kinds counter-productive, no?
Some day, check out www.Drudgereport.com. As of mid-day on 8/1/07, this guy claims he's had 15,348,000 hits (that's 15.3 million) in the last 24 hours & 4,812,600,000 hits (that's 4.8 billion) year-to-date. No reason not to believe his figures aren't true, but what the hell is he paying for bandwidth? How the hell does he afford it?
Anyone want to buy some "stuff" from me so I can get more bandwidth?
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The post immediately below this one talks about installing a post 'n rail fence around our property. After writing same, I realized I don't necessarily need to buy a nail gun or heavy-duty battery screwdriver. I have this large generator I purchased 15 years ago or so that I've barely ever used. It's big & heavy enough that it has wheels on the front of it so it can be oushed arounfd to where it's needed on a job site.
I'm thinking about using it and a heavy duty electric screwdriver I bought a few weeks ago to permanently attached the rail to the posts. I already have a couple of 100' extension cords to use, & our prioperty's about 238' or so at its width. It's over 600' long on the sides, so I'm gonna need to wheel the generator to within about 60- or 70' of the edge of the property so I can use the electric drill as indicated previously.
Sounds like a plan, except for the fact that our property slopes downhill. This means getting the generator from sdie-to-side or down the hill will not be a problem, but in the event I want to get it back up the hill and into the garage once again, I'm gonna need a heard of Clydesdales!
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Last weekend, we hired a guy & his auger machine to dig almost 200 holes on our property. This, of course, was for posts for a fence that'll completely surround our environs.
Today, I placed all the posts in the holes that were dug, in preparation for putting the rails in the holes in the posts, that'll in turn allow us to let our dogs, consisting of Lyric, Lily, Declan and Maggie, all Shetland Sheepdogs, and Dougie, our tri-color Collie, romp & play in their yard. That won't be the end of this "construction" project, however, We still need to go out and buy two ten-foot gates, two four or five-foot gates (depending on the size of the opening I create), chicken wire and either a nail gun or a heavy-duty rechargable screwdriver that'll let me afix the rails to the posts. And, I mustn't forget that all the posts still need to be positioned in their holes so they're all even, then level 'em and then fill the holes with dirt to stabilize 'em.
Since we have a few spare posts & rails, I'm thinking about building a small pen that will be used to hold the dogs that aren't being put through their paces. By this I mean when they're not running through agility tunnels, through weave poles, across walk-its, over jumps, etc. I'll need to come off the main fence with another 10' section, then go 10' or 20' to the side, then run back to the main fence with a final 10' section, constructing a rectangle 10' by 10' (or 20') by 10'.
Although all this sound like a ton of work (which it certainly is), the end product will be a giant play area for our pack of five dogs. This is gonna be great & I'll certainly be posting pictures here on the Netscrapes.com web site of my efforts.
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Garden Cart
Posted by: Jack on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 09:05 AM |
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I guess I've reached the very pinnacle of domestication!
Last night, I went to good ol' Amazon.com and ordered a garden cart. Here's a link to the garden cart we purchased (crumby picture's theirs, not mine!). This four-wheel wagon can be attached to the back of the Cub Cadet tractor we purchased about two months ago to help us mow the piece of property we moved to around that same time. Hopefully it'll be able to handle the rocks, fencing & other "stuff" I'll need to throw into it on an occasional basis.
I'm sure for most a purchase like this is no big deal, but when I look back at the fact that I'm one of those "baby boomers," ya gotta remember that the anti-establishment gene became very dominant in our daily lives and resulted in testing the very fabric of our nation's creditability.
Now, here I am, the veritable poster child for conformity and normalcy.
But, there was a saying we heard during the 60s & 70s that postulated more change can be affected from within rather than from without. After some 20-30 years in the working world, i can attest to the fact that it's true.
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22 Comments |
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We moved into a new home almost two months ago. One of the largest projects we needed to have done is now well underway. What is this monumental task? It's the construction of a post 'n rail fence around the entire property.
This may not sound like a big deal. It ceratinly didn't to me, especially since I had put a picket fence around the property in our former home. Now, granted it was a much smaller piece of land, but I figured that I have the time and what the heck, it's only sweat equity, right?
Wrong. As noted, the new piece of property is a bit large, at least relatively speaking when compred to our last home. Without going into specifics, let's just say we had to buy a riding mower and that to mow the land, it takes 1.5 hours straight if I don't take a break. No complaints, but it's a large tract of land.
A few weeks ago, I attempted to install one of those outdoor clothes dryers. You probably know the type...it's an aluminum contraption that has arms that fold out, giving access to expanses of string that you can hang clothes from. Anyway, we couldn't dig a hole for the darn thing! There were so many rocks in the ground we needed to go out & purchase a pick ax that was finally able to penetrate the rock-strewn ground. Taking a lesson from our clothes hanger experience, we soon realized there was no way we could dig into the ground for the post holes we needed. This conclusion was drawn <i<after we considered renting a two-man auger that would be absolutely impossible to use, as well as an even more heavy duty walk-behind auger machine that automatically drilled holes.
We found a guy who digs holes with a land machine he has. It has an auger attachment on the end of an arm that does the drilling. And beleive me, when he started drilling, even he had trouble with certain holes due to the rocks encased in the soil! If I had attempted this project, I'd have killed myself.
I'll take some pictures in a few days & let all the Netscrapes folks see what the fence looks like.
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As Ronald Reagan was fond of saying, "There you go again!"
This statement is somehow applicable to me and my efforts at installing a microwave oven in the kitchen of the new house we recently moved into. Installation instructions noted that a 30" space from the top of the stove to the bottom of the cabinet above was required . Measuring carefully, I confirmed we had the necessary space and went intio "build" mode this past weekend.
All went well until I tried to put the unit on the brace I had attached to the wall. Taking a step backwards I noticed that the oven was O.K., but that it created a cave-like appearance to the stove top. By this I mean that the microwave's large enough to require more than 30" clearance between the stove top and the cabinet above.
So, somewhat of a major reconfiguration of the area is involved. I'll need to take down the cabinet over the stove & reposition it an additional 8-10 inches above the recommneded height. I was hoping to avoid this problem but the darn thing just didn't look right hanging where it was.
Next time you return here to Netscrapes I may have some news for you...perhaps the $%^&$ thing will be up by then!
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11 Comments |
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When we recently moved to our new home, we decided to update a slew of appliances-washer, dryer, and all our kitchen appliance-refrigerator, dishwasher, stove/oven and microwave. After all, what's money from the sale of your former residence to be used for, anyway? All went in pretty smoothly except for that last item...the microwave.
The one we had our heart set on was one of those units that is a microwave (of course) as well as an over-the-stove light and range hood. The instructions noted it has to be a certain distance from the top of the stove surface or it won't work properly. Now this height issue gave me pause for a few days/weeks before we moved in until I was looking at some pictures of kitchens on the 'Net. One of them featured a new kitchen with the cabinet over the stove positioned higher than the other ones in the room, undoubtedly so that the microwave would be secured at the proper height.
What a revelation for me! I now knew how to install our microwave of choice in the area we wanted. Only problem is I need to now take down the small cabinet over the stove & raise it up about 10" or so. Having worked on similar issues in the last home we had, I'm not necessarily afraid of tackling this project. It's just that it's such a darn lot of work. Cutting, sawing, positioning, toggle-bolting and a slew of other jobs await me before the installation's complete. And, the fact that it's father's day weekend will have a bearing on finishing the job.
So, I might wait until next week to start this one. Tedious, yes, but it's nothing I can't handle. Since it's the last appliance that needs to go in, I'm kinda anxious to get the job done. Funny, about 15 years ago, we never had a microwave & managed to live fine without one. Now that we're used to the darn thing, it really bothers me that one's not accessible.
That and the fact that the damn thing's been sitting in a huge box in our living room for the past month or so!
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As some readers may know, we recently moved to a rural area so we could "spread out" for our dogs. We now have a large tract of land; so big, in fact, that we had to buy a big riding mower so we could mow the grounds in a respectavble amount of time.
Anyway, doing some work on the roof the other day I saw something laying in one of the rain gutters. Investigating more closely, I saw that it was a chalk line, one of those contraption you use to mark straight lines during construction projects.
What the heck was that doing up on our roof?
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And so after a three or four week hiatus, I'm back to splashing some drivel here at Netscrapes.
We're firmly ensconced in our new home, having very definately severed all ties with our old neghborhood/state. We go to bed a night after having scraped, painted, scrubbed, constructed or de-constructed something around the house so it'll meet our exacting standards. For instance, new medicine cabinets, towel racks & some other odds 'n end were on the agenda & completed last night. While I'm at work during the day, my bride is painting & cleaning, making the place into our home rather than just a mere four walls and a roof.
We have yet to undertake what might turn out to be the biggest, most back-breaking job of all-putting a fence up around our property. As some reraders who've been here previously can recall, we have four, make that five dogs that we care for. These consist of four Shetland Sheepdogs and a tri-color Collie. One of the Shelties is only about five months old-she joined our pack about two weeks ago. She's in training, both for the potty and getting acclimatized to the other dogs in our den. So far, she's takiong a liking to our Collie, who in comparison is about ten times her size (she's about seven pounds; he's around 70).
So, the that's a few reason why I've been remiss in posting here at Netscrapes. As time goes on, I'll get back into posting on a more regular schedule. The sickness my laptop recently acquired is yet another reason for the less-than-frequent posts here. I'm contacting the seller about same and hoipefully, since it's definately under warranty, I'll get my trusty ol' laptop back. This means I'll be able to post some of the pictures I've taken of our new home & the dogs here for your viewing pleasure.
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Moving DAy
Posted by: Jack on Monday, May 14, 2007 - 04:14 AM |
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For the past 15 years or so, we've lived in a suburban home on the East coast. At first, the area was a sleepy little town; it didn't even have a traffic light at its main intersection.
Time, however, has marched on. Now, cars and trucks wait impatiently at the various traffic lights that were installed in a vain attempt to alleviate congestions. Schools (per the administrators!) claim to be over-crowded, and trips to grocery stores can take an hour due to customers clogging aisles.
We watched this happen and instead of sitting around & colmplaining, we did something about it...we moved! Over the past week, we loaded our possessions into trucks & drove 'em to our new home in a very country area. It's such a rural area that one day we saw cows, goats, chickens, wild turkeys, a fox & a ground hog...all from the windows in our new home!
Now, don't get me wrong-the move was murder. We did it ourselves, opting not to hire a moving company to pack & take our "stuff" to the nbew home. Endless trips back & forth through both the old & new home were needed to transport box upon box of "stuff" from one location to the other.
What did I learn? Here goes:
Grown sons can lift more/work harded than I can
Driving a 20' moving truck is murder on your body
Packing carefully saves your possessions from damage
You need someone to keep you awake when you're driving at 2:00 a.m.
Sleep is so precious
Try it some time. You'll see how far you can push yourself!
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