Not About Government Health Care

I will do my best to follow the title and not mention health care on this post.

So, what’s been up?

We bought a shed today.  We’ve been checking the shed stores and we have not been able to find a model that fit our needs.  For starters, it needs to look nice. I also need a door on the right side for my motorcycle, preferably a normal roll-up garage door so I can install an opener later (a dream of mine is to push a button and just ride into the garage).

We’ve not been able to find anything close to what we wanted.  So, we drove up into Amish country this afternoon to the White Pine Structures factory, where we ordered one – just the way that we wanted it.  We were inspired by this picture on their bulletin board.

Of course, we had to make some changes.  The door on the right is replaced with a 5 foot wide roll-up garage door.  We also didn’t go for the vinyl siding.  We picked a large size, 10×20, and got to pick the colors of the paint, trim and roof.  It should be ready in a few weeks.  The cost, including options (garage door, fancy front door) and delivery came in below $3k – compares favorably with others that we’ve seen at the lots around here.  I’ll get to bring my motorcycle home in a few weeks.  It’s been raining too much to ride to work lately, but that can’t last forever.  Of course, we’ve already torn down the lame sheet metal shed that was here when we moved in.  I still need to get a gravel base set up.

Work is pretty bad.  At night and on weekends there is almost nothing for me to do.  I know, that’s a dream for some folks, but it makes for a looooong 12 hours.  I’ve been forwarding my office phone to the cell phone and spending time out of my office as much as I can.  Over the weekend, I worked on cleaning up one of the closed process units, picking up trash, removing and rolling up hoses used in the shut down/decontamination process, washing down the area, etc.  It’s just something to do.  The refinery is still in the process of being sold.  The negotiations continue with little news for those of us that are still working.  I have until April 16, and then I’m unemployed.  Tomorrow, I have a job interview in Philadelphia, but I’m not feeling that optimistic about it.

Bonnie got a bath today.  She’s fluffy and smells nice again.  We’re going to have to get her trimmed soon.

This afternoon, Lowes called.  Our new bathroom window was ready to pick up.  I custom ordered a vinyl replacement window with opaque glass (it’s above the tub).  I installed it tonight after dinner.  I’m going to put in the ceiling drywall soon and then get the new tub in.  Need to get this project done – it’s been held up by the window.

Our little sailboat has a newly painted bottom – it’s a yearly chore that keeps critters from attaching themselves to the underwater parts.  The paint that we use has copper oxides in it,  Barnacles and such don’t seem to like it too well.  While I was doing the under-the-boat-paint-roller limbo, Monica was scrubbing the cabin.  It’s clean now, and we can put it in the water anytime.  I still need to attach the motor and do some other set-up work – just an hour or two.

There’s also that name thing.  The previous owners were named Young.  The boat’s a 1971, and I’m quite a bit older than that – young really doesn’t apply.  However, there’s that old superstition about renaming boats to consider….  Not to despair, however.  I’ve found a boat renaming ceremony on the ‘net that should help, I suppose.  Lots of champagne flinging and such… I hope that the article writer was kidding…

It is finally getting warmer.  This winter was one for the record books.  Way too cold along with record snows.  Ick.  It’s almost April, and I’m not yet riding my bike to work.  I remember starting in late Feb and early March in previous years.  We did have a few days that allowed motorcycle riding.

We took a trip to the marina where we keep our boat for the summer (it’s not there yet) and found that the awesome restaurant next to the marina didn’t open until 4pm.  Since I had to work that night, waiting was out of the question. We had a light lunch at a nearby cafe before riding home.  A nice afternoon on the bike with good friends to ride with,  what else could you want?

My son turned 21 this week.  Happy Birthday Andrew.  He just started working at a landscaping company.  He doesn’t have to work when it rains (good thing), but he doesn’t get paid, either (bad thing).  At least he’s working – jobs are hard to come by in this economy.

Note that I didn’t write anything about the deficit-increasing, job-killing, completely unaffordable and……..

Greg

One more thing……. Sarah Palin rocks!