Around Apalachicola it tends to be either feast or famine for a self employed carpenter. I think the pendulum has swung towards feast for me lately. I've been slowly rebuilding my friend's house, but she doesn't have the funds for full time labor. Recently I painted the lines on the parking lot at the local Ace Hardware, and as a result I think I sold Gulf State Bank lines on their lot, too. In addition to that "easy" money, I sold the city a set of steps (they'll pay well) and a door for an historic restoration on the City Hall building. I'm just tickled.
If I get these projects finished before August I'll be able to escape the infernal heat and travel north for a while. My last camping trip to the Pisgah Nat'l Forest was so relaxing and beautiful I think I'll try it again. I know my dog is miserable in this heat; I'm just glad I'm not quite as furry as he is.
Besides the sultry weather and looming thunderstorms there's not much to comment on. Life goes on!
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
Rainy afternoon and parking lot stripes...
Lately, it seems, we have been getting afternoon thundershowers reminiscent of the showers we got around here when I was a child visiting St. George Island. Every afternoon around 3:00pm the thunderheads would build and drench the place for about an hour. One could almost set one's clock by them. The weather's been behaving similarly for the past couple of weeks. I like it. It's made for cooler mornings, less dust and generally greener flora.
I finally sold the Ace Hardware on some parking lot stripes after trying for the past year. The owner said that he definately wanted it done, but he just wasn't ready yet. I've been pestering him relentlessly and finally Saturday he gave me the go ahead. Sunday morning at 7:00 I was down there sweeping lines and pulling the weeds out of the cracks. By 9:30 am I was within 6 lines of being through when my 4" roller fell apart. (yeah, I know, they're only 2 bucks; you would think I would keep a spare or two...) The ironic thing is that Ace doesn't open 'till 1:00pm on Sunday and I couldn't get a roller frame. Dang. They close at 5:00pm so I went back at 4:30 and bought another frame. It had already rained for the scheduled 3pm hour, so I thought I was safe. By the time the parking lot cleared the thunderheads started building again but I thought they were heading around us. I finished the last six lines and guarded them until 6:15 (they weren't dry yet, but the traffic had ceased) and got on my bike and headed back to the house. It's a two mile pedal and about two thirds of the way there it started POURING. (cry)
I fully expected to have to buy a bucket of asphalt sealer and seal a section of the lot and repaint it, but by some miracle the lines were fine! So I got paid, the guy has two more lots he wants striped and everyone's happy.
The End.
The End.
I finally sold the Ace Hardware on some parking lot stripes after trying for the past year. The owner said that he definately wanted it done, but he just wasn't ready yet. I've been pestering him relentlessly and finally Saturday he gave me the go ahead. Sunday morning at 7:00 I was down there sweeping lines and pulling the weeds out of the cracks. By 9:30 am I was within 6 lines of being through when my 4" roller fell apart. (yeah, I know, they're only 2 bucks; you would think I would keep a spare or two...) The ironic thing is that Ace doesn't open 'till 1:00pm on Sunday and I couldn't get a roller frame. Dang. They close at 5:00pm so I went back at 4:30 and bought another frame. It had already rained for the scheduled 3pm hour, so I thought I was safe. By the time the parking lot cleared the thunderheads started building again but I thought they were heading around us. I finished the last six lines and guarded them until 6:15 (they weren't dry yet, but the traffic had ceased) and got on my bike and headed back to the house. It's a two mile pedal and about two thirds of the way there it started POURING. (cry)
I fully expected to have to buy a bucket of asphalt sealer and seal a section of the lot and repaint it, but by some miracle the lines were fine! So I got paid, the guy has two more lots he wants striped and everyone's happy.
The End.
The End.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Silly Dog...
Sometimes I wonder if my dog, Chester, is all there.
I was reading in the kitchen last night waiting for the roast in the slow oven to reach rare when I noticed Chester chasing flies. I've seen this behavior in him before, but never really watched the entire drama play out. (if you're wondering why I have numerous flies in the kitchen it's because the place is intolerably hot without the windows open [I'm too much of a miser to a/c the whole house] and the screen frames tend to not fit the openings; I'm guessing the homeowner scavenged them)
When I sat down to read I was vaguely aware of at least 4 flies. Chester was acutely aware of them. He would stalk them, one at a time, until he was in a position to be the center of the fly's attention and then snap it out of the air. He then would proceed to carefully dispatch it with his little front teeth, sniff it on the floor and make sure it was dead before devouring it with seemingly great gusto.
At this point I was chuckling and Chester went on to stalk the next victim. The mighty fly hunter. By the time he had caught and eaten all of the flies I was rolling. This was one of the funniest things I'd seen in a long time. When he was finished he looked at me with a sort of "what's so funny" look. I guess to him this is serious business. He made dang sure there were no more flies in the house before settling down to snooze. I guess he's unable to snooze with flies around, or mayhaps they are just plain delicious. We may never know.
For lack of anything more exciting to post this is what y'all get.
P.S.
It's been consistantly in the mid-90's for the past four days. I'm not loving it. Ouch.
I was reading in the kitchen last night waiting for the roast in the slow oven to reach rare when I noticed Chester chasing flies. I've seen this behavior in him before, but never really watched the entire drama play out. (if you're wondering why I have numerous flies in the kitchen it's because the place is intolerably hot without the windows open [I'm too much of a miser to a/c the whole house] and the screen frames tend to not fit the openings; I'm guessing the homeowner scavenged them)
When I sat down to read I was vaguely aware of at least 4 flies. Chester was acutely aware of them. He would stalk them, one at a time, until he was in a position to be the center of the fly's attention and then snap it out of the air. He then would proceed to carefully dispatch it with his little front teeth, sniff it on the floor and make sure it was dead before devouring it with seemingly great gusto.
At this point I was chuckling and Chester went on to stalk the next victim. The mighty fly hunter. By the time he had caught and eaten all of the flies I was rolling. This was one of the funniest things I'd seen in a long time. When he was finished he looked at me with a sort of "what's so funny" look. I guess to him this is serious business. He made dang sure there were no more flies in the house before settling down to snooze. I guess he's unable to snooze with flies around, or mayhaps they are just plain delicious. We may never know.
For lack of anything more exciting to post this is what y'all get.
P.S.
It's been consistantly in the mid-90's for the past four days. I'm not loving it. Ouch.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Beautiful morning and an old house...
When I woke up this morning it was clear, dry and cool. We haven't had a 65 degree morning in a long time and I'm loving it. (so is my dog)
I'm about to go to work and face the can-o-worms I opened up on my friends house. If you pushed on the south wall with one finger you could move it in and out about 3", so I tore down the siding and have been replacing studs, sills and the siding. It's already much better, but it's been so dang hot I'm usually only good for half a day. Today should be a good one. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the rest of the south wall and then I'll work on the front.
Guess I need to go to work, now.
Ciao!
I'm about to go to work and face the can-o-worms I opened up on my friends house. If you pushed on the south wall with one finger you could move it in and out about 3", so I tore down the siding and have been replacing studs, sills and the siding. It's already much better, but it's been so dang hot I'm usually only good for half a day. Today should be a good one. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the rest of the south wall and then I'll work on the front.
Guess I need to go to work, now.
Ciao!
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Speeding ticket...
To preface this post I'll start by saying that I haven't had a ticket in a long, LONG time. I'm usually the slowest guy on the road. It's not a race.
My friend from Tamara's cafe Floridita asked me to bartend for a wedding she was catering. I said ok, and we left Apalachicola at 5:30, giving us plenty of time to get to Port St. Joe to set up by 7:30. The last thing I said to this woman before we left is "Don't haul ass; I don't know where we're going and I don't want you to lose me." I think that spurred her on to greater speed. When I saw the state trooper (notice the lower case letters) I looked down at the speedometer and trying to keep up I was doing 85 mph in a 60 and she was still pulling away from me. She pulled over immediately and so did I. I considered continuing on, but I didn't want it to turn in to an "attempting to alude" ticket. Turns out it's the same state trooper that took me to jail for sleeping in my truck drunk. (which I took to jury trial and was adjudicated 'not guilty") When he came up to the window I said "Hi, Scotty, how's it going?" (He sat through my entire trial and he knows who I am) He said "where are you going in such a hurry, Mr. Tompkins?" I explained to him that I was following the boss lady to a catering gig and had asked her not to haul ass. Scotty said "you know I have to write y'all a ticket right?" I said "Be gentle". He laughed and then asked me for my driver's licence. I explained to him that he took it away from me a year ago last october and I never got it back. He didn't write me a ticket for not having it on me. (nice guy) He went up to the pace car and got Speedy's licence and insurance info and proceeded to write out two tickets. He's such a nice guy he nocked it down from 83 mph to 66 mph in a 60. If he'd have written it out for the speed we were doing it would have been two hundred something dollars. Instead it's $77.50. The boss lady's going to pay the ticket that I got, but I still get points on my licence. I had a spotless driving record. Dang.
Anyway, I did see a girl I went to highschool with, and the parents of a fellow my brother graduated with. Small world.
My friend from Tamara's cafe Floridita asked me to bartend for a wedding she was catering. I said ok, and we left Apalachicola at 5:30, giving us plenty of time to get to Port St. Joe to set up by 7:30. The last thing I said to this woman before we left is "Don't haul ass; I don't know where we're going and I don't want you to lose me." I think that spurred her on to greater speed. When I saw the state trooper (notice the lower case letters) I looked down at the speedometer and trying to keep up I was doing 85 mph in a 60 and she was still pulling away from me. She pulled over immediately and so did I. I considered continuing on, but I didn't want it to turn in to an "attempting to alude" ticket. Turns out it's the same state trooper that took me to jail for sleeping in my truck drunk. (which I took to jury trial and was adjudicated 'not guilty") When he came up to the window I said "Hi, Scotty, how's it going?" (He sat through my entire trial and he knows who I am) He said "where are you going in such a hurry, Mr. Tompkins?" I explained to him that I was following the boss lady to a catering gig and had asked her not to haul ass. Scotty said "you know I have to write y'all a ticket right?" I said "Be gentle". He laughed and then asked me for my driver's licence. I explained to him that he took it away from me a year ago last october and I never got it back. He didn't write me a ticket for not having it on me. (nice guy) He went up to the pace car and got Speedy's licence and insurance info and proceeded to write out two tickets. He's such a nice guy he nocked it down from 83 mph to 66 mph in a 60. If he'd have written it out for the speed we were doing it would have been two hundred something dollars. Instead it's $77.50. The boss lady's going to pay the ticket that I got, but I still get points on my licence. I had a spotless driving record. Dang.
Anyway, I did see a girl I went to highschool with, and the parents of a fellow my brother graduated with. Small world.
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