A Weekend in Pictures

 Last weekend:

This weekend, after an hour's work:

While Older Daughter went camping near Whisky Point on the Kenai Peninsula, she stopped at Cooper's Landing on the Kenai River:

As always, click to embiggen.

The Great Pandemic Hysteria

No, not the virus: it's real enough, but isn't the global killer the pols would have us believe. The Progressive office-holders (like the mayor of nearby Anchorage) are doing their best to squeeze every last bit of "emergency authority" out of the situation. The better to unseat Mr. Trump with, you see.

Given the majority of the new "spike" in cases are in folks under 35 or so, and most have either no symptoms, or are sick for only a couple of days, it's not a reason for concern.

This is the virus adapting to live in healthy folks; it's what viruses do, to survive. This is how herd immunity is built.

Wear a mask? Since the CDC, the mask manufacturers, and the honest medical professionals all tell us that the only mask effective is a full-fledged respirator, I'll pass.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, the recent rains and our 24 hours of daylight have caused all the weeds to go from 12" to 30" in the last five days, I guess we need to attack the yard again. I note that about half the homes on our road haven't done so, but it bothers me.

Ah, well. This too shall pass.  I keep reminding myself we'll have snow in October, so enjoy the green while it lasts.

sigh ...

Adages and Weekend Chores

Our temperature seems stuck at -15° F. yet again, so we decided it was a good day to clean up the garage.

I initially helped by breaking down all the boxes left over from Christmas and hauling the pile o' cardboard to the dump. Recycling doesn't cost anything except for a bit of go-juice to get the car there and back.

Meanwhile, my blushing bride worked on deciding what should go where, and making that happen. Upon my return, I helped mostly by staying out of her way except something heavy needed moving, or being put up on a shelf.

I did clean a bunch of leftover-from-various-projects bits and bags of spare parts, and sorting them into the places they should go. This freed up quite a bit of workbench space, and helped make the space more presentable, not to mention user-friendly.

We created quite an assembly of yardwork implements (lawnmowers, rakes, pressure washer, etc etc etc) and set it by an overhead door for moving into the shed tomorrow. Why tomorrow? It should be some 30 degrees warmer, i.e., 15° above.

We haven't been above zero in two weeks. It's worth waiting for.


And the adage?  "Junk expands to fill the space available."

Guys: You Need One of These

It's a Snowy Day

Not heavy snow this time, but two to four inches every day or so. AccuHunch is calling for wind today, so much of the heavy white coating on the trees will come crashing down in large clumps. We're still two hours away from sunrise, so this photo is partly lit by the driveway floodlights, and party by the iThing flash.

You know what to do.

Seriously, you know you live in snow country when that which falls from the trees into the driveway is so heavy that you have to run the snowblower a second time.

We've warmed up a bit, and might even break the 30° mark today. I won't hold my breath, though.

Our aftershock count is over 6,500 now. We're truly weary of frequent 'quakes. It will also be nice when the State inspectors get to us, so that our application for emergency funds to repair the damage will become available. Meanwhile, we're still finding new drywall cracks every day.

But life goes on, more or less as before. Folks aren't resting well, and the honest ones admit to being jumpy all the time. Even the sound of a slamming door causes a momentary pause as we wait to see if it's yet another 'quake.

After I clear the driveway, the chore list includes replacing the center support under the bed so that a broom doesn't push it sideways. Seriously, I'm substituting a couple pieces of 2"x4" for the 1" dowel which currently hangs loose from the slats.

That new sucker ain't going nowhere, as they say.   :^)

Then a run to Bass Pro to find replacement liner and/or insole for my wife's snow boots. And oh yeah ... have I mentioned my truck needs a new radiator? The current one has so many holes in it that Swiss cheese would be envious.

In other words, just another day in the life. TTFN!

Post #6,701: It's a Pain

Due to the presence of a professional chef (Younger Daughter) in the household, we have a professional faucet on the kitchen sink. She's fussy about things like that.  :)

I installed it, with the help of my lovely, thoughtful wife, at the end of March. Unfortunately, the internal "nut" (e.g, a long, threaded brass sleeve) which extends downward through the hole on the back of the sink wasn't tight enough. Turning the faucet arm back and forth in daily use managed to loosen it over time.

As a result, the whole assembly wobbled, and rotated a bit. Not good, that.

So today I finally had the time to crawl under the sink. Removing the very large brass nut and three-side "anti-rotation" collar is necessary to re-tighten the sleeve. 

Problem is, there's virtually no room for me under said sink. I have to slide in between the P-traps on the two sinks, under the cross-connection which permits the discharge from the garbage disposal to flow down the main drain under the shallow sink.

Between that, the water lines (shown above) dangling on my right temple, power cords, and couple of other dangly bits, I can just get both hands to the bottom of the faucet. 

Then reverse the process. The large brass nut which hold the whole assembly together (also shown above) is larger than all but my largest monkey wrench. There's only about 4.5" from side to side, and only a vertical tool can reach the nut. After achieving "finger tight", it can be turned by the monkey wrench about 1/3 revolution per effort.

This, while my wife holds the assembly from above, to keep it from turning during the tightening process. It's not hard, but it's difficult, if you know what I mean.

But the deed is done, and we're going to sit and start watching Fringe again. 

The Only Constant is Change

Elder Daughter decided to replace her mattress, a couple of weeks ago. She's been on a full-size setup which was purchased several years ago.

We were all surprised when she came from a day of making furniture store rounds, and told us that no one sells full-size mattresses anymore.

Nope, no longer available.

So she gritted her teeth and invested in a new queen-size bedroom suite, memory foam mattress, the whole nine yards.  She and I spent the morning assembling the bed, with under-storage (drawers which close flush), headboard and footboard. Each box seemed to be heavier, and then there's the two flights of stairs between the staging/opening area in the garage, and her third-floor bedroom.

But we got 'er done. After lunch of freshly-grilled brats, we took a truckload of cardboard, styrofoam and other packing materials to the landfill, and headed back to the furniture store some 20 miles away.

Why? She didn't know if she'd need box springs, since the bed rails are somewhat taller than the norm. Turned out she wanted one, so off we went.

Turned out it was a good day to go: she won a mountain bike for having purchased the furniture and mattress, so they tossed it in the truck along with the springs.

Fortunately, the box springs are in a plastic bag rather than another box. It would have been irksome to return from our take-all-the-cardboard-to-the-dump run with another large box...

But all is finished, she's happy, and my wife is grilling burgers. That's a win-win-win!

Beating Back the Forest ... Again

We spent much of the early afternoon mowing, trimming, whacking weeds ... lather, rinse, repeat ... and managed to push the encroaching Chugach Forest back for another week. What was a smallish clearing in a heavily-wooded backyard has become a passable back yard, some of it level enough to permit easy walking (smile), and permits us a place to escape the noise of civilization.

The back yard looked like this when we bought the place two years ago:

More-or-less the way we found it, with little work yet done.

After clearing a few trees, and starting the pavers and footpath for the barbeque grill, a year later ...

and looks like this, today:

7/1/2018

It's been a lot of work, although worth it, and more work remains. But for now, we have a place we can enjoy.

Beating Back the Forest

Several hours of cutting down small trees and more of the overgrown hedge/brush in the back yard yesterday. More of that, plus three hours of raking, bagging, and running two weedeaters today. That's the back yard, back more-or-less under control from the forest which always threatens to overrun us. 

The portion of the front yard which has grass is next. That's about a quarter-acre, give or take.

Those are the oversize "contractors' yard waste" bags, plus a LOT of brush,
laid on its sides.

Saturday Morning Chore

A few days ago, the gooseneck with pull-out nozzle/hose assembly on the kitchen faucet decided to begin anointing the surrounding area. My wife, being firmly convinced that taking a shower while filling a pot was not a good thing, announced that now was the time for a replacement.

I agreed, for what it's worth. :)

Our daughters, never at a loss for opinions when it comes to home decor, immediately suggested a model they'd seen last week, when severe ice and snow conditions had them seek overnight shelter at a friend's house.

So I visited Amazon, my go-to source for all things I like to shop for, and ordered this wee beastie (on sale with free shipping, a win-win):

This morning we installed the thing, and I even had all the tools needed but one: a basin wrench. Fortunately, there's a locally-owned hardware a couple miles down the road, and a throw-back to earlier times. They have a bit of everything, and tools I've not seen anywhere else.

Younger Daughter, who was a professional chef for six years, is an enthusiast about anything which reminds her of commercial kitchens. She gave it a smiley-face via text, when I finished.

My Sunday Afternoon

So after discovering that the ceiling fan light kit wouldn't fit (because the old fan and light turned out to be an inseparable, one-piece unit), we went back to Big Box Hardware and bought a new flush-mount fan and light. After a couple of hours labor, it's up, and works with a remote. No more dangling chains, and more headroom for the tallest person in the master bedroom (me).

We also hung a five-piece mural of mountains and northern lights in the area between the stairs and dining room. So now, after standing on a stepladder all afternoon, I'm tired. And why did I do it today? Because today is when I had a helper available. My mom may have raised an ugly child, but she never raised a dumb one.

It's Been Awhile

since I posted anything about our lives in the Last Frontier.
This won't be much of that. :)


This morning dawned sunny, and it sure is nice to see daylight at 0600. That will make the morning commute much more pleasant. No more hitting potholes in the dark ...  Meanwhile, the snow is melting quite rapidly, and large swaths of yard and driveway are visible. That's a good thing.

After breakfast, we drove into the edge of Anchorage to Big Box Hardware (not orange; the other one) and picked up a new light kit for the bedroom ceiling fan, and a lamp for the dresser. Now all the lights in the master will have the same alabaster shades. We also picked up a rug to go under the recliner - my private reading nook, upstairs - which matches the other there.

Returning to our town, we stopped at the grocery store for the few things we were low on, topped off the gas, and drove on home. After unloading said items, I took the bug-out pack out of my truck, and put the summer tires in.

Tomorrow morning, the studded snow tires come off, and the much quieter summer tires go on. Better, quieter ride, and better mileage ... until mid-October, when we reverse the process.

But now, it's approaching lunchtime, and since both daughters are at work today (sorry, girls) my lovely bride and I will have lunch in the breakfast nook. It's a sunny bay window area with views of the backyard and the big mountains a couple miles to the south.

I hope all y'all are having a wonderful Saturday. Be blessed and happy, and thanks for stopping by.

The Weekend, in Progress

Go home, AccuHunch; you're drunk.

On Friday, we were supposed to receive 1" to 3", and wound up with 8" of snow on Saturday morning. And last night, they forecast another inch.

It's snowing lightly this morning, and we have three inches already. Oh, well, it could be a lot worse.

* * * * *

Yesterday was tiring. We spent roughly two hours clearing the driveway. Then after lunch, Younger Daughter had an appointment to have auto-start installed in her SUV. But she was working, so we agreed to take care of that for her.

The three-hour appointment turned into three hours and 45 minutes, but we also drove my truck, and decided to do a little shopping, and a lot of window-shopping, and have dinner while out and about.

Lots of zeros in the prices of things we're interested in, these days, but "we're interested" is not the same as "we have to get it right now because emergency".

* * * * *

Fortunately, there's not a lot we need to do today. I have a few small projects around the house such as replacing a receptacle, and things like that. Nothing major, and no desire to do anything major.

Besides, one of the things we dreamed about when buying this place was to sit inside and watch it snow through these big windows. And today, we shall.

Thanks for stopping by, friends.

AccuHunch Weather Strikes Again

For the last several days, AccuHunch has guessed that we'd get 1" to 3" of snow on Friday night. And so we did. There are three inches of snow under the additional five inches that fell on top of it.

But what the hey - eight is practically the same as three, right? Sigh ...

So, instead of a leisurely Saturday morning shopping run, I'll be running the snowblower instead. Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.

Fortunately, I did most of the shopping on the way home from work yesterday, before the bulk of the snow arrived. And then it all came down at once, around 20:00 (8 pm, for you civilians). It looked like the sky was throwing snowballs at us, for awhile, as the last three inches fell in about 20 minutes' time.

Reminded me of Adak, for a few minutes. It wasn't uncommon to get three feet of snow in an hour, out there.

* * * * *

So that's about all I have, for now. All y'all be careful out there, and thanks for stopping by.

Saturday Morning

This is the first weekend in a month that we haven't awakened to a major snow clean-up, so it's already a good day. :)

It's supposed to be sunny today, but sunrise isn't until 9:10, so that's still nearly two hours away. Meanwhile, the local forecast is filled with news of the dense fog advisory in Anchorage. But we're not in Anchorage, so it's all good.

We'll go out after breakfast to do our usual weekend shopping, but the only other plans for the day involve running our taxes. Traditionally, I've waited until April, because we've had to pay additional funds. Every. Single. Year.

But this year, for the first time, I can answer "yes" to the "Did you buy a house?" question. We're looking forward to a possible refund for a change. It'll be a nice change of pace.

* * * * *

We watch the reports of rioting and property destruction ("protests", my giddy aunt!) with a growing sense of anger. It's about time someone spanked these rampaging Leftist idiots.

I'm going to stop right there, as I can feel my BP rising. And there's no sense spoiling a good morning.

Thanks for stopping by, friends. Have a wonderful, safe weekend!

Another Snowy Day

It warmed up overnight, and the inch of light snow that had collected on the balcony and front stairs turned to slush, and then solid ice.

Needless to say (so why am I saying it?), we don't go out that way very often, this time of year.

But the temps, which were supposed to fall, have been bouncing around the freezing mark all morning. We've had several rounds of light snow, picking up another inch or so.

Given the forecast, we headed into the city after breakfast. That allowed us to beat the hordes of zombies, Reavers, and angry shoppers who begin to appear between 1000 and 1100. And since none of those are present early, the stores' staffs are happier, too.

We hit a couple three big box stores, with specific goals in mind. Goals achieved, we headed back north.

In the meantime, the highway is in variable condition, so traffic speeds vary between 50 and 60 most of the way. So it wasn't awful, and bit o' fishtailing from time to time keeps the heart beating nicely.

:)

We've been addressing Christmas cards and wrapping gifts since then. The only chore left now is a trip to the post office.

Once that's done, we're in for the afternoon, and looking forward to a round of Christmas movies.

Thanks for stopping by, friends.

Just Another Subzero Morning

The temp is only -1° F., but that still counts.

It's been a fairly standard-issue morning, so far. We slept in, not arising until 0600. Coffee (mandatory), then breakfast at 0800 (scrambled eggs with cheddar and Havarti cheese, and a goodly splash of hot sauce for flavor).

After breakfast, Wife and Older Daughter primped, prepped, and headed out into the wilds of ... well, whichever stores they planned to visit today. I waited until they were done, scraped the hair off my lower face with a sharpened bit of metal, combed what wasn't shaved, and headed into the garage.

Must flatten a stack of boxes. The utility knife is in my tool belt where it belongs, for a change, so I set to work. First, to find a new blade for the knife.

If I had any unused blades (and that's by no means certain), they failed to show themselves. But the old blade wasn't as dull as I thought, so many small- to medium-sized boxes gave their last, until the trash can was filled.

Then off to the gas station to replace the fuel consumed this week, and on to Wally World. Pro-tip: must get to the store early, to avoid the Reavers and zombies which appear by late morning. I must acknowledge, however, that they're far fewer here in Smallville than those encountered in Anchorage.

But I digress.

Located the tool aisle, well-stocked with Stanley products. Started to pick up a 6-pack of blades for $1.78, and then spotted a dispenser of 50 blades for $6.71. My mama may have raised an ugly child, but she never raised a stupid one. :)

Grabbed a few other things, went through self-checkout, and I'm back home with plenty of time to spare.

Now that the sun is above the mountains, and just hitting the trees behind the house, it's time to kick back and enjoy the view.

11:15 a.m.

Saturday's Task

So we got a total of 10" of snow yesterday. Today, we get to clean it out of our 275' driveway. Meanwhile, it's 9°, with temps falling to around 0° by suppertime.

Time to break out the winter coats.

Freezing Drizzle Saturday

Well, we all survived a very long week (at least, it seemed that way).

I've met only one person who admitted being disappointed in the election outcome, and as expected, she couldn't articulate why she thought Ms. Clinton would have been a good President. "We need a woman President," et cetera.

Why? She couldn't even explain that. Oh, well.

Speaking of the election, about a hundred protestors showed up Wednesday (or was it Thursday) at a mid-town Anchorage intersection, and waved anti-Trump signs. They stayed on the sidewalk, didn't break or burn anything, and went away after a couple of hours. Apparently they stuck around just long enough to make sure the local press could take some pictures.


The weather has been iffy here all week, and it's 29° with a light rain this morning. They're calling for more rain this afternoon, but with temps moving into the mid- to upper-30s, at least then it won't freeze. Like it is, now.

I bought a new porch light to go outside the garage man-door, with a dusk-to-dawn/motion sensor. The weather turned cold and wet the day after it arrived, so it's been sitting on the work bench for awhile. I'd like to put it up, today, if there's any interruption in the rain.

I'm hoping it will be relatively simple, and bolt right up to the existing set-up. We'll see what Murphy's Law has to say about that. But daylight is still 2 1/2 hours away, so I need to buy a 100-watt incandescent bulb for the fixture. The LED bulb I have now is great in terms of staying cool and using little power, but isn't dimmable.


Since it's National Pizza Day, my wife has dragged out the California Pizza Kitchen cookbook, and will be making a BBQ chicken pizza for dinner. Everyone's already drooling in anticipation.

I also picked up a pair of the brightest headlight bulbs available for standard sockets for my Explorer, and need to plug those in. Either that truck doesn't have the best set-up, or my eyes need more illumination at night to see well.

Naw, that can't be it. Must be the whole "wet asphalt soaks up the headlights" thing. :)


All y'all have a wonderful weekend out there. Thanks for stopping by, friends.

The Early Morning Rain

The temperature has warmed slowly overnight (up to 40° (!) right now), and there was a heavy rain overnight. Well, "heavy" being a relative term, but it did rain quite a bit for awhile.

We're fortunate that it's early in the winter season, and the roads aren't cold enough for the rain to freeze on contact. No reports of any ice build-up, anyway.

We have a pickup and three SUVs, and all have winter tires (one set is studded; the other three are the studless "ice grippers". I was skeptical about those, until last year when my wife put a set on her small SUV. They work quite well, and in some cases better than my studded tires. Since they also don't tear up the asphalt like studs, my next set of snow tires will be the studless type, too.


The terms "shell-shocked" and "disarray" are being used to describe the Clinton camp's response to yesterday's FBI bombshell. Isn't it strange how the Left doesn't find it so funny when it's happening to them?


We'll be heading out to the local market for a few things, this morning, and to put some more go-juice in truck. Later, Older Daughter and I are going to take a serious stab at organizing the garage. It remains the one part of the house which hasn't ever truly been put in order. That needs to change, and a cold, rainy day seems like a good time to start.

That's all I have for now; thanks for stopping by, friends.