Wow, what a heat wave...

It's been incredibly hot here the past few days. I've been building a set of steps on the Apalachicola city hall in this infernal heat. They were quite large; 12 feet high to the landing and 5 and a half feet wide. I finally finished them Thursday and was very glad to do so. I'll post a picture as soon as I get my film developed. Yesterday (Friday) the temp was 97, which isn't really all that hot, but when you add in the 95% humidity it's torrid. Makes for great chafing, though.

I'm buying a nice redneck vehicle. It's a 4x4 bronco painted camouflage with nice mud stompin' tires. My last truck had the 351 cubic inch carbureted windsor motor and got 12 miles to the gallon. This one has the 302 cubic inch fuel injected motor and I expect over 15 mpg. I'll be happy with that. I'll be able to tow heavy loads and go where most vehicles can't. That's what I look for in a truck. The only thing I don't like about the bronco is that it's an automatic. Oh, yeah, my other truck was an 83 and this one is an 88. I'm really coming up in the world.

My plans after I finish rebuilding the windows on the house I'm working on will be to drive north to Franklin, NC to deliver a tent, AC unit, Boom box, 3 CD's and a side grinder to a friend who moved up there from here. I'll then look for a place to camp and stripe parking lots where it's not so dang hot.

On a different note, my parents and two sisters and their families are down here on the panhandle for a vacation. I'll probably ride over Wednesday to see them. I'm looking forward to it. I'll post some pictures of that auspicious occasion, too.

I hope this post makes it; the last two times I tried they didn't show up on my blog. I don't know what's up with that. I can only hope this one works.

Y'all take care!

High speed chase!!

Wow, y'all. Today was one of the few days that we Apachicolanders got to experience the thrilling excitement of big city (for example L.A.) life. We watched a high speed chase zig-zag all across town. I don't think they left a street out. (the north-south streets go from ave. A to ave. M; the east-west streets go from 1st street to 25th street) Everyone who was awake got to see it. It was kind of like a Keystone Cops comedy, or maybe Benny Hill. I'm not sure the cops had any cause to believe that they would ever have to deal with this; they never were in control of the situation. If they wanted to stop these guys all they had to do was stake out the two roads leading out of town. (98 east and 98 west) There is no other way out of town unless you're running by boat. (that worked for us, but that's another story) But, the cops had a chance to get over 35 mph and blow the cobwebs off their cars, and the parade of civillians following the chase (despite the vehement objections of the cops) showcased cars who's licence plate stickers expired as early as 1972. THIS WAS THE BEST DAY SINCE THE CIRCUS!

WHEW!

Seafood galore...

I love living near the coast and having access to inexpensive fresh seafood.

Today for lunch I had Shrimp flavored ramen noodles sprinkled liberally with REAL imitation crab meat. Beat that! I'm sure the shrimp flavor packet in the ramen noodles was made with local shrimp.

Lots of water falling from the sky today. Got rained out on the siding job. I'm really not that heartbroken.

I'm opening my friend's coffee shop in the mornings while she's out of town. Real smart to give me, the king of excess, the keys to a coffee shop and all the coffee I can drink between six and eight a.m.. I've almost quit vibrating. My handwriting looks like it was written by a person with Parkinsons suffering DT's.

A practical joke too good to pass up...

During my down time I generally hang out at a friend's shop where we all tinker, drink beer and swap lies. There are always several projects going on at once whether they be lucrative or not.

This guy Jeramy (who shall remain nameless) is a goldsmith and keeps a crock-pot full of wax around he uses to obtain molds of various creatures and objects that he will eventually cast in gold. He decided to melt the wax to mold something and two seconds after he plugged the unit in there were complications. First, a geyser of steam erupted and Jeramy (who shall remain nameless) started yelling "Oh, God! Holy cow!!" Naturally I (being the curious type) ran over to see what was happening. I thought it was some sort of cool chemical reaction. Well, this nameless guy ran the opposite direction to the window that lets a cool breeze blow through the entire length of the warehouse. That was a really bad move, as the problem was a horrible, concentrated rotten fish stench.

Evidently as a rookie shrimper he'd found some cool fish (juvenile sheeps-head) that he wanted to cast and he'd put about 10 of them, the size of a half dollar each, into this wax and in the course of standard debauchery forgot all about them. The crock-pot then got unplugged to seal the fish in wax to rot.

I don't have the words in my vocabulary to explain how vile and foul the atmosphere in the warehouse was for about 30 minutes. We all thanked God for the breeze. I have been working on commercial fishing boats off and on for quite a while, and I have never in my life smelled a more unpleasant, thoroughly invasive stench.

This whole wax-pot thing is a prank waiting to happen. We thought about selling it in a yard sale for a dime or so, but then they'd know where they got it. I thought about taking it down to the thrift store and donating it, but all the ladies there are so nice I couldn't stand the thought of them plugging it in to determine if it works or not in the store. I guess I'm just going to wipe it down with bleach to take the surface stench away and keep it 'till April. This makes Walter Mathau's "dead fish behind the truck seat" gag in 'Grumpy old Men' seem tame.

(insert evil laugh here)

Oops, getting fat...

Well, since I've been in this house with all the modern amenities I've seemed to expand in girth. Where I used to ride a bike or walk for at least half a mile to feed myself, I now only have to walk the short distance to the refrigerator. I've been considering moving the fridge across town, but I don't have an extension cord that long. I still bike or walk wherever I go, but cooking breakfast, lunch and supper at home and having immediate access to leftovers whenever I want (and a microwave) is still packing the insulation on me. I'd do well in a cooler climate.

Sigh.