Did something unusual tonight... (for me, anyway)

I actually sat and watched TV tonight. An entire episode of
'Deadliest Catch'.

I haven't watched any TV to speak of in months......

Just felt like being a potato for a change.

Stones..... again

This time, Just a few photos.
They speak for themselves.
Cutting and polishing these things
can be enjoyable.... it's easy to get lost in the
craft.

What does a bored teacher do?

Prevented from beginning our construction till after another week passes, and fully caught up on all other work that can be done.... what does a bored teacher with access to nice shop out of the sun do?

He waxes his truck.

I had a big lunch in our culinary programs dining room. Chef can cook a piece of driftwood and make it taste wonderful. After lunch, knowing I needed physical activity or a big soft spot to fall over, I pulled my truck in and spiffed 'er up.

I... Like... My... Truck.

More stone stuff

For Breda and Sparrow, more about cutting stones.

One of the skills I am picking up is cutting and polishing
slabs. Specifically, agate geodes right now.

A feature of these is the slab is usually translucent
and beautiful. It's best when light is shining through it.

To that end, I wanted a display device that would hold a
slab and a candle.... and it was so easy to make.
My first try was from a simple 2x4, to work out what I wanted.
Now, the final product is made from rare hard wood.

Today.... that boat fell apart. Hard.

Some might recall a boat that attempted to kill me early
last week.....

It's not nice to mess with Carteach0, for Carteach0 has access
to heavy equipment and large dumpsters.

Bye Bye boat from hell..... have a nice trip back home.

Hear that?

It's the sound of ...... silence......

The boys graduated last night. NO more kids in school for me.
In a week, no more school for me period.

The next sound you hear will be a deep breath of relaxation.

A full and busy day....

Spent some time today poking around inside
a rock to see what was there. Turns out it was
worthwhile, as this is what I found:




In addition, while running errands, I stopped at a
small Amish store. It's one of those places with no sign.
Either you know it's there, or you don't. They are
fine with either outcome.

There, I purchased some tomato and basil plants for
the garden, and a bag of dark chocolate wafers.
To go with the wafers, a bag of cashews.
In case you missed it.... the Amish KNOW how to eat well.

This evening, having put in a full day planting the garden and
wrestling with diamond saws, I finally had time to relax.
Moments after sitting, I realized again one reason
I stay so busy.... I miss my best friend, a lot.

So, to console myself, I combined the Dark chocolate and cashews
to make these treats....



No worries friends. I won't eat them all by myself.
I'll have help, no doubt, as soon as they are discovered.

Go ahead.. click on the photo to enlarge it. Make it
your desktop. I dare you!

Just past my fingers
I feel your heart beating true
to me, a beacon

One of the boys showed up with my safe!

The middle son showed up yesterday with a surprise.
My gun safe, in his truck! It took him, the neighbor, a floor
jack, and a long pry bar to get it in the truck....

Into the house here... a fridge dolly and three husky manly type men.
We had to remove a few doors and move five bookshelves, but it's
moved in, and nobody got hurt.

It's now ensconced in it's new home.... and will be soon be filled
with it's usual contents. Feels kind of nice to have that back...

Breakfast fixuns, and more

Muffins.... made with cheddar cheese and a touch of garlic.
Also has some rosemary, parsley, and black pepper.
Warm and buttered.... a dozen evaporated.



Country skillet..... Dice potatoes and onions sauted in bacon grease, then inundated with eggs and cream. Topped with shredded cheddar and baked till set.

Topped with salsa..... it's a favorite of mine, but not for everyone.



And now, another adventure in stone. Finished yesterday, this wedge shape of agate has already been claimed. It took some talking to get it back long enough to photograph. The lady of this house says this piece is now hers, and will not be
going to the store for sale.

It's an idea in process..... and if I can make it work you'll see more photos of such things.







Another project, about 3/4th completed, is the deck behind the house. It overlooks the pool. It hasn't been cared for in years.... at least ten years. It's color varied from dull gray to dark algae green. Hours and hours of pressure washing, followed by a good long dry out, then a coat of natural stain/sealer. This is the first coat, and probably the last. The Thompsons sealer covers nicely and looks particularly good when dried.

What you see here is one half the deck... there is a chunk behind the photographer (me!) that is somewhat bigger, but without a solid roof. It has an Italian style cover of boards set on edge to block some of the sun. Today I'll get all the furniture moved to this side, now finished, and stain/seal the other side. Next weekend it will be done.

My sitting room windows look out onto this deck, and from there to the woods. Not a bad view.

Two pieces, of a shared source

I don't need a new interest, but it happens anyway. My mind works better when it stays active. Like a magpie, something new and shiny comes along and I'm off to the races. "Oh look..... Shiny!"

The latest mind candy: cutting and shaping stones. The equipment is here. A willing if somewhat garrulous teacher is here, and rocks are everywhere. While there are over two tons of fancy cutting stock laying around here, I have only to walk into the woods and pick up a stone.

That's what I did yesterday. I had a project weighing on my mind, and I walked out into the woods behind the house... kicking over rocks and digging through the underbrush. Looking for an old piece of the earth that matched what my minds eye was imaging. A stone that had inside it what I wanted. I found it.

Perhaps one of the things about stone cutting that fascinates me.... is the way it demonstrates humanity. Not wishy washy liberal humanity, but the real meaning. Being human, being a man, having control over my environment and shaping it to fit my desires. I wish this piece of common stone to be a new shape and serve a new purpose, and by the power of my hands it will. It's that ability that sets us apart from all others on this planet.

In this case, my desire was a set of book ends. With a special purpose in mind, I wanted a stone of a certain color. Making slow and deliberate slices with a diamond saw, I took a common stone from the wood and reshaped it to match my desire. A flat and stable bottom. Wide interior surfaces to support specific journals for years to come, and front faces with a polished glimpse into the heart of the stone.

I made exactly what I wanted, and it felt good. It will feel even better when I gift them to their new home, to the person they were made for.

In cutting and polishing the stone, a recurring thought played across my consciousness. One stone into two. Two stones, of the same source. Two stones that are really one, just separated by space and time and circumstance. Set side by side, their origin flashes into obviousness.

Taken separately, each has it's own beauty, and flaws, and strengths. Placed together all thats good is multiplied. Their common past life becomes clear and they deserve to be together from then on. It's right... that they serve their purpose beside each other.

Each piece, an individual and unique thing. Taken alone, separately, each has it's own value and beauty. Each would serves it purpose without peer. But, place them together, and they magnify each others essential character until the union produces something new and better.

Something beautiful to the eye of a man.

What the home land looks like....

Click the image to embiggen if you wish.

Friday follies..... and Eintopf mit Rindfleisch

This is the reward a tired instructor longs for after a hard day. So.... this is the reward a tired instructor made for himself!



Beef stew.....
Everything gets cooked before combining. First, sharp white onion sauted in butter. Then, fresh sliced carrots and yellow squash sauted in olive oil. Then, chunked baby white golden potatoes browned crisp in butter, with salt and pepper. Last, big pieces of sirloin steak browned at rocket high temperature in the dutch oven, with cracked black pepper rubbed in first.

All of it gets combined in the hot dutch oven, and covered with beef broth. Simmered for an hour or so till the beef is oh-so tender and the potatoes start to fall apart. Season with Rosemary, garlic, kosher salt, more black pepper, and parsley. Mix a bit of corn starch with some vegetable broth and dump that in. Stir till it thickens, then turn off and allow to rest for another twenty minutes as the flavor permeates. Rosemary and garlic stay sweeter if not cooked long, but need to soak a while in the juices to spread their flavor.

The smell is amazing, and it tastes like heaven in a bowl.

On the work front, on this last day of the last week of school..... The boat that tried to kill me on Monday refuses to give up it's engine. The out-drive is frozen solid, but the engine may be Ok. We can't get the drive off, so the engine must come out. It doesn't want to. It REALLY does not want to. The same corrosion that solidified the out-drive has rotted every fastener that holds the engine in.

If we get it out, and if it runs decently, it will be a kick-butt 120 horsepower 2.5 liter GM engine that could make an S-10 type truck run down the road at a fair pace.

The boat..... hates me. I am beginning to dislike IT. It may catch fire.

(You HEAR that, boat?!?!)



Concerning summer construction matters, the old theory room risers are totally demolished. Stripped. Beat to pieces. Reduced to their original components, or smaller. Much smaller.

We have two piles of trashy scrap wood to get rid of (bon fire?) and two piles of usable lumber for the new construction.

But... we may not need it. Against all odds our new materials showed up today. I was shocked! It's early! I would not have been surprised if it had never arrived, and here it is early! I feel faint.

To sweeten the pot, it looks like we'll have more than enough new lumber as the plans call for double sheathing, and extra reinforcement, figured to rebuild the old size risers. We have changed that plan to better use our space, and the square footage we are covering with tiers is much less than original.



As for this old teacher... I'm tired. I'm going to eat another bowl of that ambrosia, then crack open a book and relax. Mozart is wafting through the air, the house is blessedly quiet, and soon I'll be able to talk with my best friend.

Life is good......

The risers are out, ahead of schedule

Some of the boys worked well today, so our theory room
risers are now all stripped out. Yesterdays pile of wood has
doubled in size.



Seems that hitting things with large hammers
really makes teenage boys happy. Lots of smiles
amongst the crew today... when I wasn't slave
driving them.



They took turns with the sledge, to much cheering
and cat calls.



In the end, gravity won.



Before anyone asks... yes, I overdid it again.
No big deal... just a little sore. I'll work out the whole
'putting on the underwear without bending' issue and
all will be well.

Tomorrow, we salvage what lumber we can from the scrap
we cut up and removed. The pile of usable wood is already
building. I understand our new materials have been
ordered and will be here next week, although we really don't intend
to start construction till the first part of June.

This weekend, some issues to deal with, chores to do, maybe some shooting
will get done. Funds will be snug, so whatever trouble I get into will be
close to home.

Monday off! Then tuesday, the last student day. Then, ceremony Tuesday evening. That means a suit jacket and tie, for hours on end. A few last handshakes, some final pictures with the boys, then slip quietly away
while the crowd mills.

It's a moment waited for all year... shaking each students hand on that stage as we hand them a binder with their certificates, awards, etc.

The next day... peace reins at school and instructors breath deeply.

Gas prices... lets get at least one thing straight....

Gas prices are too high, and it's all because of the evil oil companies.

Uh... no... not really.

Sure, they are making money. Yes, they are making record profits. Yes, they could lower gas prices, a little.

But that would be in direct conflict with their duty to their share holders.
On the other hand, there is another player in this game that CAN uunilaterally effect gas prices to the US consumer. That would be your elected Representatives, and I use that term in the most laughable way possible.

Understand this..... the various federal, state, and local governments make THREE TIMES the profit on oil companies, as well..... oil companies do.
The companies pay THREE TIME more in taxes than they make in profits, and the government does nothing to earn the money, unlike the company that made it.

The pasty faces jerks in Congress who are grilling the oil company executives right now? Give them a call... not that they'll care what you think.

Gas prices are high because the dollar is weak, demand is high, supplies are limited, refineries are maxed out, regulations are abusive, and a thousand other factors. I chose to respond as a consumer in a capitalistic economy does... I drive less and buy less of their product. That alone is the best thing we can do to drive prices down. That, and give the nearest congressman a boot in the ass when we see his fat butt getting out of his publicly funded limo. That last might not effect fuel prices, but it would be fun and OH so satisfying.

All right!

Ok, so the 'discomfort' had me out of bed way earlier than the alarm
went off. That was a bad thing. Also bad... trying to put on underwear
without bending back or shoulders. Try it sometime.....

But, good, is being able to put my shoes on! That is so made of win!
Nothing a few cups of coffee and 1200 Mg of Acetaminophen can't take credit for.

Thursday... Today, tomorrow, Monday off, then Tuesday is the last student day.
After that, a few days prep time for next year. In my case, construction of our new theory room risers, if the materials show up. If not, I might wax my truck (g).
The school admin usually dreams up some last minute in service crud we are required to sit through, so they can meet their state mandated training requirements. At best we get a days notice, so planning the real work can be problematic.

Last year, they tapped me to do part of the in service training. I have become the Power Point go-to guy.... not sure why.... and they wanted a presentation.
Ok, I made one..... on how to use Power Points in our various teaching platforms effectively. The faculty paid attention and I got lots of questions. I think it went well. Part of it.... was a power point on what the presentation should look like, and what NEVER to do. The fun part.... the 'paid presenter' who followed me used a power point that broke every rule I had just outlined, and looked like crap.

Tuesday evening is our 'Certificate and Awards' night. We are not allowed to call it graduation as that would upset the schools who send us students. Several of them regard graduation ceremonies as vast money making opportunities and don't want the students to miss them. So, we can't have our evening with gowns, nor call it a 'graduation'. Principles actually get together and argue over things like this. Must be the ties.

What I don't understand.... if the tie is tight enough to cut off blood flow to the brain, then why isn't it tight enough to cut off hot air expellation?
Maybe they need to be tighter......

Yesterday afternoon (ten minutes before the end of the day)... the phones started ringing.. "We need the task grids!!" This would be, in our case, a 28 page chart on each student listing what they accomplished all year long. In fine print. They get put in the folder with the certificates and handed to the student on the stage. Other than that, they serve no purpose. My response to the phone calls.... "WHEN were they DUE?" The answer "............. we need them now". My response again "WHEN were they listed as DUE?". Igjit on phone: ".........................". My response "They'll be done when they are done then".

Just a few more days... and the pressure is off! I can sleep in late, till six even!

We found something these kids are REALLY good at!

Destruction!

Thats destruction with a capitol 'D' and that rhymes with 'T'
and that stands for......

Tired!

And thats what I am. Tired. Whooped. Done in. All out.
Beat. Wiped. Spent. Shattered. Utterly drained.

You know, about an average day.

Today, we began demolition on our theory room risers, preparing the space to build new ones. My partner and I will spend much of next month doing so.

The old risers, all three tiers of them, were dilapidated. In several spots they were falling in, and patched in several others. I half jokingly referred to them as 'My Retirement Plan'. Jump up and down just here, and I get a very long paid vacation at school expense while I recover from injuries sustained from willfully neglected facilities.

They have needed full replacement for five years. Instead we got one sheet of plywood and a handful of used nails to patch them. (only half joking, as we only got half a sheet of plywood and had to buy our own nails).

Last year I tried to shame them.... asking for some used lumber and a box of nails, saying we would fix them ourselves with our students. No soap.

This year, this summer..... they get replaced. Or, so they promise.
My partner and I put in our bid to do the work ourselves, as we want it done right.
Not half assed the way it was before. Luckily, the director is on his way out. Looking at our theory rooms a few weeks back, he said "I don't want people saying I left this place all fucked up like this". So, to salve his pride we get to fix our floors.

The theory rooms looked like this, this morning:



It's a double theory room, for a double class. Mirrored one side to the other.
By mid day, both sides looked like this:



We (the boys and us) took the risers apart. Big hammers,
REALLY big pry bars, a sawzall with demolition blades, and other
assorted implements of destruction.
By the end of the day one side looked like this:



At the end of the day, the theory room floor is now stacked
outside, waiting for salvage/disposal:



My partner and I intend to salvage what lumber we can, as it's a
safe bet the school won't get us enough to do the job correctly.
In addition, I brought my own tools in for this.... sliding miter saw, table
saw, and other power tools. The school owns such items, but getting them
when we need them is problematic. The people who have them... have them.

By tomorrow, both sides will be demolished and cleaned up. Then.... we
wait for the promised materials to show up. That might be a long wait.
We've already decided... if they pull a normal admin stunt and fail gloriously
to do their simple jobs, we'll paint walls and floor, then reset the rooms without risers.

Today.... I probably did things I should not have. Considering I fell off a boat Monday and bruised ribs, I maybe should not have been horsing pry bars and floor sections like that. But... had to prod the youngens to get the work done, and you can only lead from the front.

That said... tonight I pay the price. Whimper.

Lifetimes we have loved together
in the past, and the future
meeting in the now
as one
linked together
fitting as always meant to be
traveling a journey into vast forever

Thou shalt NOT......

I say again, thou shalt NOT climb into the back of a boat in the shop, using an old aluminum ladder which collapses, dumping you across the outdrive as you scrape past the prop on your way to a very hard concrete floor.

Most especially, thou shalt not do this in front of students who then get very quiet, wondering if you are dead.

Thanks boys. At least they didn't kick me to check..... or laugh.

Deep breaths smart a bit. Then again, so does moving anything else right now. I can't wait to see what color that turns.

(update).
Some hours later, home now, survived a shower, I can report that nothing appears to be broken.
As long as I don't do any thing drastic it doesn't even hurt much. Drastic is defined as standing, walking, bending, twisting, breathing deep, going down stairs, going up stairs, going straight down the hall, or opening a can of soda. Other than that I am fine.

The real test will be getting out of bed tomorrow morning (g).

A road less traveled....

And that is what you will take, if you trust a mapping GPS to get you places.
It works from maps in it's database, and satellite GPS coordinates.

I have a Tom-Tom XL, and it has taken me down a strange road or two.
Here is what it calls a 'normal' road:



Now, the road was Okay, even if it did look like some farmers driveway.
I'm just used to roads that have..... well...... a road on them.

But, If I stayed on such mundane roads I would have missed this:



I know what you are thinking...... "It's a bloody cow! Ain't you ever seen a cow before boy?" Yes, I have seen all the bovines I care to, and more. I have moooved them around, shoveled up after them, and eaten many tasty bits of them.
On the other hand...... I have never regarded them as lawn mowers:



This farmer has this young calf tied off to a dead weight, allowing the cow to munch the high grass along the road. Grass gets short, cow gets fat, move the weight twenty yards every few hours.

I gotta tell you... that young cow looked happy!

Picture Meme....

Ok, I'll take a shot at this. Tough one Linda, tough one.

1. What is your current relationship status?



2. What is your current mood?



3. What is your favorite band/singer?



4. What is your favorite movie?



5. What kind of pets do you have?



6. Where do you live?



7. Where do you work?


8. Who do you look like?



9. What do you drive?



10. What did you do on Saturday?



11. What did you do on Sunday?



12. What is your favorite network TV Show?



13. Describe Yourself.



14. What is your favorite candy?