December

I haven't posted for a long time. Below are some December photos.

Grammy & Lydia relaxing in the hot tub. Been a warm December.


Interesting mural on a retaining wall at a Jefferson City gas station. The mural is makes it appear that there is a bridge and that you look down the highway. It shows what you would see, the capital building, if you could see through the retaining wall.


There used to be a bearing wall, supporting the upstairs and part of the roof, from the new post over to the corner by Doug, 15' long. We took it out and put in a new beam, and the post. The new beam is also supports an existing 12' beam that used to span between the dining room and living room. There will be no walls between the dining room, living room & kitchen when complete. There will be a large island. Kitchen is completely gutted.

 Christmas Dinner.


Lydia working with handicraft stuff she got for Christmas.


Saturday morning after breakfast. Trying out a new game. You put whipped cream on the paddle, spin a needle to see how many tries you have to see if the paddle pops up and splashes you with whipped cream.
 

 She finally got a some whipped cream on her face. Everyone but "stick in the mud" Gpa Bert gave it a try.
 

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

Sept 30th - Been A While

God is good!

It has been a long time since I've posted. I thought it was time to post a few photos and provide a few thoughts/comments/updates.

Kathy is doing great after her surgery. Hallelujah! We go to St. Louis Friday for a follow up with the surgeon and to get her staples removed.

Weather has been nice here, but DRY. I think it has been 3 weeks since I've mowed the lawn, not that I complaining about that.

I thought all the fish in our pond had died because the duck week had cut reduced the oxygen levels. All the big fish are dead but we do have small ones. I haven't noticed any catfish so far, which is fine with me. I wonder if the other ones were eggs that survived the time when the oxygen levels were so low. I still need to get another grass carp, but that can wait until spring.

I've been working for ARSEE/T&L some while here at home, 5-10 hours per week. I still enjoy it so I'll keep it up until ARSEE's work load gets back to normal, or until I get tired of it.

I've advertised the motorhome and CR-V on a couple of web sites. A lady may come from the Dallas, TX area to look at it this weekend. I've probably spent 4 hours, either on the phone or emailing her, to discuss the sale.

The photos aren't in any order.

Watching the construction from Kathy's room was interesting. They have 3 tower cranes working and are working 24 hours a day. When I took this photo there was a guy hanging out over the side of the building welding on a column and another, one up on the floor above him, doing something with a BIG torch.

Hot tub fun.

This was the view outside from my motel room window in St. Louis. This is not a parking lot, it is a traffic jamb on one of the main Interstates feeding into St. Louis. The morning we drove to St. Louis it took us less time to get the first 60 miles than it did the last 15. Makes me want to kiss the rural ground of central MO, but I'd much rather kiss the ground of rural TN <grin>. (Actually that isn't so. I wouldn't trade time with Kelsey and Lydia for anything.)

Picking cucumbers with Grammy. We have NEVER had cucumbers produce before. We might get a couple and then the vine would die. This year Kathy has given me 2 bags to give away at church, and she has given away more to others.

Sun bathing after "swimming" in the hot tub. Notice the ice cream cone. Its a rough life.

Last Saturday the girls made tomato juice. I helped by cranking the Squeezo.

 Hospital visitors

 Fixing/eating a waffle on tomato juice day.

May God bless you and yours. He certainly has blessed me.

Sept 7th - In Indy

Made it to Fishers, IN today with no problems. Traffic was much lighter than I expected, but I arrived here around 6:30 PM. It probably got a lot heavier later in the evening.

I will be working at ARSEE this week and head back to MO Saturday morning.

Several years ago I purchased a used tandem axle trailer in TN, to move the Kubota I bought in TN to MO. It had never been titled or plated. In TN you don't have to put plates on a trailer that you only pull in the state. (TN is such a grand state) In order to put a MO plate on it (so that I would have the privilege of paying MO personal property tax on it) I needed to have someone from the county Sheriffs office come out, inspect it, fill out the paper work to get a VIN #, etc. The trailer was to big to use for carrying firewood up to the house at our HILLY, WOODED 4 acres in MO.

I ordered a new 5'6"x10' single axle trailer last week. It is big enough to carry my Kubota and small enough to use to bring wood I cut back to the house. Yesterday afternoon I listed the tandem axle trailer on craigslist. By 8 this morning a guy came from 50 miles away, paid me $100 more than I had paid for it, and hauled it away. PTL!

Lydia went off to the park with Doug & Anthony this morning. She loves it when her Indy Gpa's come to visit. They will head back to Indy tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.

God is good. May He bless you and yours.

Sept 4th - Nothing Exciting

We came back to MO last Saturday. Its a pretty boring 600 mile drive. Sure wished it was closer.

Nothing exciting going on here. Lydia stayed with us 2 days and was just a peach. Kelsey, Kathy & Lydia went out to lunch yesterday and Lydia was NOT a peach.

Kelsey had a Doctor's appointment today and all is well.

Doug & Anthony are coming Saturday evening and going back to Indy Tuesday morning. Lydia will be happy to see her Indy Grandpas.

I'm going to Indy (actually Fishers, IN, just northeast of Indy) on Monday, so that I can work in ARSEE's office, or go to the Tate & Lyle Lafayette plants as needed Tuesday-Friday. I will drive back to MO on Saturday. I'm still enjoying the work, and the money is nice.

God is good. May He richly bless you and yours.

Aut 27th - Early Morning Update from TN

All is well in TN, well almost all, Kathy's Dad is not doing so good.

Last Saturday's trip here was relatively uneventful. The only issue was a traffic jam in Lebanon, TN. We like it when our travels to or from here allow a stop to eat at Demo's, a restaurant in Lebanon, TN. Saturday afternoon, as we exited the I40 in Lebanon we noticed that eastbound traffic was backed up. We were able to get off OK and had another great meal at Demo's. When we drove back to the exit to get back on I40 eastbound traffic was "parked" as far as we could see. Being seasoned travelers <grin> we weren't concerned, we decided to take route 70 to Crossville as an alternative. We headed for route 70 and learned that hundreds, maybe thousands, of others had made the same decision. When we were still miles from even getting on 70, traffic came to a standstill; we didn't mover a mile in 20 minutes. Kathy checked the travel/map app on her phone and it appeared that traffic was again moving on I40. We made a U-turn and made our way back to the Interstate. It had begun moving slowly and within about 10 minutes we were back up to normal speed. We never learned the cause of the backup.

I drove over to Lenoir City, TN Sunday afternoon and stayed in a motel Sunday & Monday nights. I stayed at one of the motels I used to stay at 25 years ago when I came down to work at the Loudon, TN plant. The eastern part of TN is on Eastern time. The central part, including Crossville, is on Central time, same as we are in MO. I had to be at the plant at 7AM Eastern time Monday morning and would have had to leave our place in Crossville no later than 4:30AM Central time to make the 90 minute drive to Loudon. I chose to stay in Lenoir City, a 15 minute drive from the plant, instead. My two days at the plant went well and I was back in Crossville late Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday evening I did cleaned up my notes, marked up some photos I took and then scanned them and transmitted them to ARSEE's server. The people in the office will put together a report for Tate & Lyle. I still have some work (8-12 hours?) to do on one of the Lafayette plant projects and then I will be finished with what I have been asked to do. I have enjoyed doing it and would probably do some more when they get overloaded again.

Wednesday I ran 3 tanks of gas through my weed eater/brush cutter. It was some good exercise and I was tired last night. I went to bed around 8PM, which is why I am up now at 3:30AM <grin>. No doubt a nap will be in order this afternoon, or maybe even around mid-morning. I feel pretty good this morning. I thought I might be stiff and sore, but not to much.

The weather is BEAUTIFUL. We have the windows open all day but have to close them in the evening because it gets to cool. When I was out weed eating I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and was not overly warm. I'm sure not used to wearing a long sleeve shirt while working in late August.

I will probably do some more brush clearing today. Maybe a combination of some light chain saw work and heavy duty weed eating. I can cut down 2" trees with my weed eater/brush cutter (when I have the saw blade installed) but some of the trees where I am clearing are a little bigger than that. I've been cutting them anyway, but a chain saw would be a better tool for cutting the larger ones.

God is so good to me. May He bless you and yours as richly as He has blessed me.

August 19th - Motorhome Back in Our Driveway - Finally

Yesterday I got a call from Camping World saying the repairs on our motorhome were done. We took it up there May 1st. 3 1/2 months!

I will give them credit for one thing. I initially asked them for a price to take off the Diamond Shield (plastic film on front for protection from rock chips) because there was mold growing between the film and the paint. When they told us it was done a couple of weeks ago the Diamond Shield had not been removed. The Service Tech said that they had not included the removal in the estimate. After seeing copies of the emails I had taken with me the Service Manager agreed to "eat" the cost of the removal. They said it took almost 50 manhours of labor and $80 worth of material to get it off. The Service Manager asked me if I was curious about what it would have cost if I had to pay for it, I was...a little over $5,000. They got over $8,000 from me and my insurance company for the work they did, without being paid to remove the Diamond Shield. I don't know if it really took that much time but before taking it up to them another place estimated the cost of removal, if I remember correctly, at $2,700.

I still need to buy & install 4 new 6v golf cart batteries for the "coach" 12v power. I bought the existing batteries in 2010 so we got good use out of them. Camping World wanted $127/battery plus installation. Rural King's web site says they have them for $70. On our way back and forth to TN we drive close to a couple Rural Kings so I need to stop and pick 4 up.

Lydia came for the day yesterday. She & Kathy  made a "house" out of a large box that we had. She helped me work a little but I don't do much work when she is here.

We do still have fish in our pond. I was certain they had all died but Kathy kept saying there were still some alive. Lydia and I threw some fish food on the water yesterday. In a few minutes we saw some small fish eating some of it. I couldn't see them very well. I'm hoping all the catfish died. I don't think the ones I saw were catfish. They didn't eat like the catfish that used to be in the pond.

We got a HARD rain last night. One of the guys at this mornings men's Bible study breakfast said he got 2.5". It misted some a little while ago and I wouldn't be surprised if we get a little more before morning. We need it.

I'm supposed to be at the Tate & Lyle plant in Loudon, TN at 7AM next Monday, for safety training, which takes 3 hours. I'm supposed to be at the plant Monday and Tuesday. The plant is about a 90 minute drive from our place in Crossville. I think I'm going to drop Kathy off at our place Sunday afternoon/evening and then drive over and stay a couple of nights at a motel near the plant. Loudon is Eastern time and we are Central. I would have to leave our place no later than 4:30AM, our time, to get there on time.

I worked 28 hours per week the past 2 weeks, but won't work that many this week, maybe only 16.  I will need to write a report based on what I see at Loudon but then that might get ARSEE to the point where they won't need any more help. I've had a good time going back to work, but I won't be real sad if it is over.

God is good! May He bless you and yours, He sure has blessed me.

August 13 th - Keeping Busy

Other than finding out the sex of our 2nd great grandchild nothing exciting has been happening. I'm working 25-30 hours a week on the projects I brought back from Indy. God is so good, I am enjoying the work and I'm getting paid to do. I am working on scheduling a trip to the Tate & Lyle plant I Loudon, TN, about 1.5 hours from our place in Crossville. It is supposed to be 2 days of inspection work in the plant and then writing a report on what I found.

This is my assistant's desk. It is next to mine so that she can help me a lot.

This is my birthday card and hand painted tile birthday present. I also got a smaller hand painted tile with a magnet, it is on the door of the refrigerator you see in the above photo. Lydia helped me with the placement.

Doug & Anthony came for the party where we learned the sex of the coming baby. Lydia loves having her grandpas D&A around, and they love her.

Below is a video of the moment we learned the sex of the upcoming baby. The only people who knew were the person who did the sonogram and Andy's sister-in-law. She set everything up. If it was a boy the cans of spray string would spray blue string, for a girl it would be pink string.

May God bless you and yours, He sure has blessed me!

Aug 3rd - Good and Bad Day

Lydia was here today and we enjoyed having her. That was a big part of the good.

Last week a Camping World rep left a message on my phone saying that our motorhome was ready for pickup. It has been there since early May, nearly 3 months, to do work that included a total of 38 hours of labor. I sent the rep an email listing a couple of items and asking him to verify that they had in fact been fixed. I mentioned that I did not want to get up there and find out not everything was fixed. I received no reply. This morning we drove to the Camping World store in Columbia, a little over 60 miles from us. When we got up there I mentioned that I had not received a confirmation that all the work had been done and I asked about specifics. I learned they had not done all the work that I had asked them to include in the estimate.

Our coach has a factory installed plastic film on the front, to prevent stones from chipping the paint. The paint isn't chipped but a couple of years ago mold(?) started growing between the film and the paint. There was no way to get to it without removing the Diamond Shield product. (I contacted Diamond Shield and was told that it would cost well over a thousand dollars to remove the plastic.) Since we were having body work done on the coach I asked Camping World to include the cost of removing the plastic.

This morning they said they had not included the cost. Their body man said he doesn't even quote removing the film because it usually requires repainting the front of the coach. This was the first I heard that it wasn't included in the original estimate. (The estimate did not give an itemized break down of all the work.) At that point I started getting somewhat heated. I had copies of the emails I had sent them describing the work I wanted quoted and of a request for a better breakdown of the quote. I also had a copy of my email from last week, in which I specifically asked if the Diamond Shield had been removed.

The Service Manager was standing at the counter and was listening to the conversation. When I started showing the rep my copies of the emails the Service Manager stepped in and said they would remove the Diamond Shield and repaint as necessary. Of course that meant leaving the coach there and at some time in the future making another 60 mile drive up there to pick it up.

The level of incompetence in our nation is staggering.

I did do a few hours of "moonlighting" work this afternoon. I also managed to give the lawn a "down and dirty" mowing job. I wanted to get it mowed in case it does rain tomorrow. It had been 2 weeks since I had mowed. It needed mowed but was not horribly tall. I can do some clean up mowing later in the week.

Even on the good and bad days God is still good.

May God bless you and yours.

Aug 1st - Back in MO

Drove back to MO this AM. Traffic was MUCH better than when I drove to Indy last week. Arrived home a little after noon. All seems well here. The lawn even looks decent, after going 2 weeks without being mowed.

I had a good time working in Indy. I enjoyed the work. Getting to catch up will old friends is great. Getting paid while you are doing it is awesome! God is so good.

I brought some work with me, to finish up here in MO. Don't know when/if I will go back to do more work from ARSEE's office. Scott told me he would send me work to do here if the work didn't require my actually going to the plant to see the area.

Time to get to bed. It was a short night last night and even after a long nap this afternoon I'm still ready for bed.

May God bless you and yours.

July 29th - Still In Indy

I originally thought I would go back to MO at the end of last week, then I decided I would stay through the weekend and go home tomorrow (Thursday), now I have changed my mind again. My current plan it to head back to MO Saturday morning.

My boss from my days at Staley is still doing some Consulting, he is 77. He's going to help ARSEE with some analysis work on a spray dryer at one of the Lafayette plants. He was over yesterday for a meeting at the plant and I went up there to do some inspection work. We had lunch together. It was really good to get to catch up with him.

I haven't been happy with my productivity since I've been back working. Today was the first day that it seems like I'm starting to get back in the swing. It is the main reason why I'm going to stay through Friday. I will still have some work to finish when I get back to MO but I think I can accomplish more if I stay here for a couple of more days.

It was pretty toasty up at the plant yesterday. Fortunately the cooling tower support frame that I was inspecting was up on a roof (a flat roof) 40' in the air. There was a breeze and most of the time I was in the shade.

I may need to go to the Lafayette South plant tomorrow. Glad to see that the high is forecast at 85, not 92 like it was today.

God is so good!

That's all from Indy.

May God bless you and yours.

July 25th - In Indy

A couple of weeks ago a guy from the firm I "sold" my business to asked if I wanted to do some moonlighting. I said maybe and we discussed what he needed. I like him and the firm and am very happy about how well things worked out when I retired, for me, them and Tate & Lyle (my client).

I told Scott I would come to Indy and work 4 days to see how things went. I drove over to Indy Monday afternoon and started work Tuesday. I have to clear the cobwebs out of my head some when we discuss past projects but all in all things are going smooth. By Thursday I agreed to stay through the weekend and work maybe 4 days next week. I will be going back to MO Thursday, the 30th.

Dan Bares, the young draftsman I used to work with at T&L (young compared to me, their oldest is now a senior) came to ARSEE (where I am working) to work Wednesday. I REALLY like him & working with him. We took a long lunch to catch up. That evening Tim Deckard, an old partner of mine and a guy I love, & I had supper together, 3 hours worth. We had a great time. Thursday I went up to T&L's Lafayette South plant to do some work and had lunch with Tony Holt. I've worked with Tony on and off for 20 years. It was great to spend some time with him and catch up. Friday I was back in the office. This morning I went back up to the Lafayette plant for a few hours to do some inspection work and field measuring. Arrived there at 7:15 & was out of the plant by 10:30.

Doug, Anthony & I had supper at LaParada, the great little Mexican restaurant only a few blocks from them. We were all tired but enjoyed the fellowship and a good meal, at least I did.

I'm staying at a Studio 6 extended stay motel, less than 2 blocks from ARSEE's office. So far I'm pleased with the accommodations. It ain't the Ritz, but I'm not paying for the Ritz. It is a good value.

Tomorrow I plan on going up near Lebanon, where we used to live, and attending church at Harvest Christian Community church. It is where I went before I moved. They are a GREAT bunch of people. Then some laundry and a nap in the PM <grin>.

Getting to spend time with old friends and making a good buck at the same time. God is so good!

May God bless you and yours.

July 19th - A Few Photos

Not much happening here. Below are a few photos.

Lydia and I checking out the pond after a heavy rain. It was still raining lightly when we went out.

Lydia with her Elsa outfit and braid.

June 16th - Wet

Kathy flew to California last Wednesday, to attend the wedding of one of the girls she used to work with at Teen Challenge. She flew back into Kansas City this afternoon and will be home tomorrow. Sounds like she had an enjoyable time.

I haven't been doing much while she has been gone. I did pick the first of our blackberries several days ago. They probably need to be picked again but I was to lazy.

Our pond was totally overgrown by duck weed, even though I sprayed it a couple of times with vegetation killer. I think all the fish have died due to lack of oxygen. I, and Kelsey & Andy, have been removing the weeds we can reach with a pool screen/skimmer. After some research I bought 3 different chemicals, mixed up a "witches brew" and sprayed part of the weeds. It looks like it works. 18 hours after spraying it the weeds I sprayed were turning brown. Note the top left area of the photo.

I've spent over 5 hours dipping weeds over the past several day, and Kelsey & Andy have also done some. Probably 30% of the pond surface is not weed free. I may need a boat before I can spray the ones in the middle of the pond.

We have been getting some rain every day. Not steady but everything stays wet.

May God bless you and yours.

June 7th - Lydia's 3rd Birthday

Yesterday, the 7th, was Lydia's 3rd birthday. There were 25-30 people at her party. A good time was had by all. It was warm, our first day above 90, but it was reasonably comfortable sitting outside in the shade, with a nice breeze.

Kathy & Lydia checking out the swing set.

May God bless you and yours.

June 5th - Swing Set Finished

I finished the swing set today, but forgot to take a photo of it after I added the slide and the ramp. Below is a progress photo from a couple of days ago.

Lydia was here a couple of days this week. Normally Kathy and her went out and picked mulberries and cherries first thing in the morning. They are at the cherry trees in the photo below.

Kathy says that she is done picking cherries for the year. She said she had enough picked and pitted for over 15 pies. Several people from church have said they are going to come over and pick some of those remaining, and there are still a lot of them.

Duck weed has infested our pond. It started before I went to TN the last time. I sprayed it with weed killer 2 or 3 times but it didn't seem to help. The entire top of the pond is covered. Once that happens it cuts off sunlight from getting to the plants in the pond and they quit producing oxygen. A lot, if not all, of the fish have died. From what I have read since it happened you have to use specific weed killers to kill the stuff. Enough for a single treatment for our small pond is $80. It will probably take multiple treatments to kill the stuff.

It rained heavily last night and rained lightly this morning. No rain in the forecast for Saturday (tomorrow) and Sunday. Tomorrow is Lydia's birthday party. Doug & Anthony should be here within the hour. I didn't think I would have time to do mowing over the weekend so I mowed the lawn this afternoon, even though it was wet.

Good night. May God bless you and yours.

June 1 - More Swing Set Work

I didn't do much yesterday after church. We did pick the ripe cherries. There are a lot more still to be picked, when they ripen.

 The mulberry pickers/eaters were at it first thing this morning. Lydia is wearing the hat because the temperature was 57 degrees.

 Sometimes a little help from Grammy, and a lot of stretching, was required to get to the ripe berries.

Sunday afternoon Andy's Dad used his Bobcat to take the blue building off my trailer and put it on the leveling pads Kelsey & I had prepared. I added the platform at the end of the swing set today. It will have a slide going off the far side and a ramp up to it on the near side.

 

Also on Sunday afternoon Andy's Dad helped Andy & Kelsey cut down a dead tree that was in their yard. The brush pile from it is on the left and the food wood is further out in the yard, on the right.

Tomorrow we head into Jefferson City to buy hardware & additional chain, for hanging the swings.

May God bless you and yours.

May 30th - More Birthday Present Work

The blue building is now parked in Kelsey's driveway. I think Andy's Dad is supposed to unload it with his Bobcat tomorrow. Kelsey's "to do" list includes painting the inside, and maybe the outside. I think she added installing some windows to my "to do" list.

 

Yesterday Kelsey and I leveled 4 pads to support the building.

Jack, Andy's Uncle who is only a couple of years older than Andy, came over last night and we set up the A frames and installed the top beam, in the rain. The far leg on the left sits on top of the ground. The near leg on the left is in a 3" hole. The far leg on the right is in a 9" hole. The near leg on the right is in a 15" deep hole. Digging the holes allowed us to get everything plumb and level.

Today I finished "locking" the top beam in place and installed the knee braces at the top.

I thought the knee braces would provide enough stiffness but I was disappointed by how "wobbly" it is. I still have to add a 4' square platform on the left side, for the slide. (Amy & Marshall, Kelsey's Mom & Stepdad are buying the slide.) I'm hoping it will add more stability. If that doesn't work the only other thing I can think to do is remove the existing knee braces and add longer ones.

Kathy picked these cherries yesterday and many more today. She said she has enough picked and pitted for 3 good sized pies.

I hope you all had a great day. May God bless you and yours.

May 28th - Swing Set Building

We have been preparing for Lydia's, our great-granddaughter, birthday on the 7th. We have/had an unused small building at our home in Missouri and Kelsey, our granddaughter, wanted to move it to her house and convert it into a playhouse.

Building before.

Building gone.

and on trailer.

I still have to take it over to Kelsey & Andy's. I loaded it by myself. Andy's Dad is going to take his Bobcat, with forks, to their house to unload it.

Today we went in to Menards and Kelsey bought the lumber for a swing set. She and I put the two end frames together in their garage this afternoon. We are going to have to wait until Andy is available to stand them up and put the 14' long 4x6 top beam in place. Kelsey, Lydia, Kathy & I went out to lunch after getting the lumber. Kelsey bought us lunch as an anniversary present, married 48 years today.

Our dwarf cherry trees are loaded with cherries. We put up some netting but it will be a battle to get more than the birds.

 

 

We went over to Kelsey's for supper tonight. After supper Kelsey put in a movie for Lydia. Lydia was sitting on the couch in the living room, totally engrossed in the movie. We sat in the dining room and watched her watching the movie. She was so cute. I tried to get a photo but the photo was dark.

God is good! If you are as blessed by Him as I am, you are a fortunate person.