Day 726, Costco and Chickens

Ughh not Halloween it's still July!

After my workout in Bend I headed over to do a Costco run.  I always have one or two items I need, but walk out with 5 or 6 items.  I enjoy seeing what they have and usually the unbeatable price that comes with it.  To my chock and surprise, they already have Halloween items out!  Ugh, I'm just not ready to start thinking about Fall.  I know there is all kinds of back of school advertising going on, but I can block that out.  Halloween in July, just say no!

Back home it was time to let the Chickens out.  My original three were ready to fly the coop and when I opened the door they bolted in a flurry of feathers. The new 6 chickens just sat there and were in complete shock.  I could see they were wonder, just what are they doing on the outside.   I left the door open to see if they would venture out and they just stood there.  Finally one ventured out and they all came out.  They enjoyed their freedom, but were slightly cautious about being out in the open.

Happy Chickens

I checked for eggs and there were four!  This was the first time I had a four egg day in almost a 9 months.  I had forgotten what it was like to see so many.  Instead of taking over a week to fill an egg carton I can do it in a matter of days.

Four fresh eggs

With the chickens running free I went to wash the BMW and the truck.  Both of them were very dusty and I was happy to have the time to clean them back up.

With the sun setting and two clean cars in the garage, I went to check on the hens.  They had all found their way back into the pen and were all settled in for the night.

It was a perfect day.

Day 725, Taking the cousins kayaking

From Iowa to Oregon

Today after Church I'm taking my cousins kayaking with my buddy Doug.  I borrowed Tracy's kayak and with a fully loaded truck, we were ready to go by 2pm.  The drive up to the lake takes about 50 minutes to an hour and, which would up us there about 3pm.  This is a great time to go, because a lot people are already heading home and the parking lot is not so full.

My cousins have never kayaked, but I assured them they could do it, however, I wasn't so sure when I saw my cousin tipping from side to side. His wife on the other hand was a natural pro.  After about 10 minutes he had it figured out and we were off to explore the lake.  Sparks lake is a long ways away from the corn fields of Iowa and they thoroughly the experience.  There is so much to see and the scenery is breathtaking.

After a few hours it was time to head home and have the last big family dinner before they head back to Iowa.

Day 724, New Chickens

First thing on my list to do today is put away the Traveleze.  The trailer has been out in the driveway for a week since I brought it home from Flyte Camp.  I don't think I'm going to be using it anytime soon, so it needs to be put away out of the sun. Getting the trailer in the shop isn't that hard but get all the cars parked in around it can be a challenge.

Corn getting tall.

With my chicken population down to 3 I decided to look on Craigslist and see if there were any chickens for sale.  I found one posting in Sisters for 6 chickens that were about 11 months old which is perfect and they were not asking an arm and leg for them.  They Americana's, a Java and a Welsummer.  I made a drive out to Sisters and an hour later I was back home with 6 new chickens.  I had let my three out, so they were running around the yard and not in the pen.  I was easily able to get all six in the pen and they seemed to settle in right away.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on the yard and come dinner time I needed to put the three hens in with the new girls.  For the most part is was peaceful, until the two dominant  hens of each group decided they needed to establish the pecking order.  The feathers were a flying, but for the most part they kept it civil.

The corn is getting tall with the tallest stalk about 6'.  With any luck the corn should be ready by the end of August and just before the first frost.  With nights already getting down in the high 40's I could see this be an early frost year.

Day 723, The weekend

I'm so ready for Friday.  My cousin from Iowa and his wife are here visiting and are staying with my folks, so tonight we are going out to dinner.  I thought it would be fun to fire up the Rolls and drive them to the restaurant.  It has probably been 20 years since we have seen each other and it was great to have the opportunity to spend time together.

It was great fun to catch up and hear old family stories.  Iowa is where all of my family is from and there is a lot of fond memories of my grandparents and visits with all the cousins.  Now that my grandparents are gone I don't get back there and I feel the grip of family slipping away.  Luckily with Facebook and email I'm able to keep in touch with most of my relatives.

Day 722, Thursday

Cute little bugger as he gets ready to munch my flowers.

I woke up to the sound of deer in the back yard and upon a closer look I saw that there were two deer still in spots.  It was fun to watch them run around while Mom was munching on my flowers.  It was a great way to wake up, but after a while I was tired of watching my flowers get chomped down to knowing to I had to ask them to leave.

Today I had an afternoon ribbon cutting at work and then at 5 a visit to the chiropractor for my neck and then a massage at 6:50pm.  My neck and shoulder have been knotted up for months and I'm finally getting around to getting it fixed.  There is nothing like an elbow in your back to work out the kinks and to make you scream like a little girl.  Man, I was dieing from the massage, but ultimately it was a hurts so good kind of feeling.

Day 721, Music on the Green

Tonight is our third concert of our summer series and will mark the halfway point.  Where has summer gone?  The group tonight is the Soul Benders and they play classic rock with a little R&B and some funk.  They are a great band so everyone should love them.

People enjoying a summer evening concert

At 11am we set up our stage tent and it was a little warm.  The high today is expected to be at 90, so it could be a bit warm for the start of the concert.

The concert starts at 6pm and it was 90 with a slight breeze which made the temperature perfect for a summer concert.  By 6:30 pm the park was full at an estimated 1,300 people.  There was lots of craft and food venders and the kids were enjoying the three bounce castles.

It was a fantastic night, but one of the venders had deep friers that need electricity for cooling down and he was plugged into our power boxes.  I ended up staying until 9:15pm until they were cool enough that I could cut off his power.

It was a long day, but very fun.

Day 720, Time to mow the lawn

Taking a picture while mowing....

I had dinner with my folks and then headed home to mow my lawn before dark.  Tonight at 11:40 pm, my cousins from Iowa are flying in and my parents are picking them up.  I usually mow on Wednesday, but I wanted to have it out of the way so it wouldn't interrupt any visiting time.  As usual it took me about an hour and I then had another 40 minutes of daylight to pull a few weeds.  With 10 acres there is always something to be doing.

With the sun set and the temperature still in the high 70's I actually had a rare burst of energy and went for a much needed run.  There is a perfect 2 mile loop I can run which takes just over 25 minutes and doesn't kill me.

It was a fantastic day!

Day 719, Back to work

I really wished I could have taken the Traveleze out, but it just didn't fall together.  I'm sure there will be more opportunities to take it out and hopefully in August for sure.

One happy cat

The update on the 1942 Packard, it still sits in Prineville awaiting a new main shaft for the overdrive transmission.  The on in the transmission I bought had been welded back together and despite more repair work, it wont hold together.  The Packard guy in Seattle is looking for a replacement and will let me know as soon as he finds one.  Meanwhile the car is sitting unusable and the summer is slipping away.  With the 42 on hold it has also put the 53 on hold.

It was a beautiful summer day and I enjoyed spending the evening at home enjoying the yard.  My cat Harris had discovered a great advantage point at which to pounce down on mice.  He walks the irrigation pipe line and looks for movement.  I think he also enjoys the view.

Day 718, Sunday

The AC cant keep up when with the sun is beating down.

This was one lazy day.  Other than going to Church and having lunch with my buddy Doug, that was about it.

I worked a little more on the trailer and it's pretty much ready for the next outing.  The one thing I wanted to test out was the AC, to see if it was up to the 80 degree day and would it cool the little trailer down.  I closed up all the windows and let the AC run for an hour and half, and when I opened the door it was roasting hot.  I then thought perhaps I needed to provide some method to vent the heat out, so I popped open the roof vent and went away for another hour.  When I came back it was hotter inside then out.  I popped open several more windows and left the AC on for another half hour.  When I came back it was obvious that the little AC, just can't keep up with the heat and it is not capable of cooling the tiny space.  I was a little bummed, but there has got to be a solution to the problem and I'm sure Justin can figure it out.  We might just have to put in a bigger unit, but the space is so tinny it should be able to cool it down.

It was a great weekend and I felt rested for the coming week.

Day 717, Back to Sparks lake.

I had worked hard to get all my chores done before the weekend, so my weekend was free for fun!  Christian and I had planned the night before to go kayaking again, so I tossed the kayaks in the truck and headed to pick him up.

Sparks lake is spectacular and no matter how many times I go there I never get tired of the view.  The water was flat and mirror like and the temperature was perfect.  On the way into the parking area there is a spectacular camp sight where I would love to back the Traveleze into and take pictures.  It's right on the waters edge surrounded by pine trees and it is one of the most scenic campsites in the area.  It would be a awesome spot.

We spent several hours on the water and we were both snapping pictures with our phone. Life just doesn't get any better than this.

Day 716, FRIDAY!

Well the idea of leaving work early and heading to the coast didn't materialize, so I focused on a full days work.  I was bummed out that South Beach in Newport is booked full for every weekend until Labor Day, but know I can get in, in September.  There are also many other campsites out there and I just need to plan to the weekend and book ahead.

Very fine scratches in the aluminum siding before I took them off.

Tracy was at the coast and I was looking at a weekend with no plans.  I called up my buddy Christian, to see if was up for a barbeque and he said sure!  There is nothing better than barbeque chicken, spinach salad and corn on a hot summer evening.  Okay, there are lots of good summer food, but this hit the spot.  After dinner Christian helped me put back some of the stuff I had taken out of the trailer so it could be worked on.  It's amazing how soft aluminum is, and if you use the wrong cloth you can scratch the surface, even when you are just trying to clean it.  Luckily as easy as it is to put them in, it's as easy to take them out.  For the light scratches, 00 steel wool, with a super light touch and stainless steel polish, I was able to get the scratches out.  The brushed aluminum siding makes it easy, I just followed the direction of the aluminum and scrubbed lightly.

It was the start of another great weekend.

Day 715, The Traveleze comes home.

The Traveleze ready to come home.

After a few days at Flyte Camp getting the last few items tweaked, the Traveleze is ready to roll.  All of the items on the list were carefully addressed and everything should be ready to go.  I had really wanted to head home and head to the coast, but that just wasn't going to happen.  With two late in the day meetings and the last one going well past 6:30 pm I wasn't going to get home in time to drive to the coast.  It's about 4 hours to the coast and I was just too tired.

The Traveleze needs to be repacked and I'd like to try it out again, to make sure everything is ready for the next adventure.

Day 714, Traveleze gets a makeover

The crew at Flyte Camp, quickly ran through my punch list of small adjustments that needed to be made and they addressed each item quickly.  One of the items on the list however, turned out to require substantial more work than expected, but they did an excellent job in assessing what needed to be done and then making the correction.  I was very pleased with the work being done and Justin, as always, was most concerned about providing excellent service and keeping the customer happy.  The fact is, is I love the trailer and Justin and Anna are awesome.  The trailer is so much fun and building anything from scratch, with no blueprints is going to require a little tweaking.  Justin was going to have the trailer ready to go home on Thursday.

Hey, what's in the bag?

With visions of taking the trailer off on an adventure to the coast, I needed to get my chores done so I could be gone.  I needed to mow the lawn and jumped on the mower as soon as I got home.  listening to Delilah on the radio and mowing around the yard, I forgot all the stresses of the day.  Delilah, cracks me up, with people from across the country calling in with their sappy love stories and troubled life stories.  Yet some how Delilah's comments about life and enjoying each season, whether its Spring, Summer, Winter or Fall, she seems to find the joy in each little moment of life and I'm reminded to stop and appreciate the blessing that are all around me.

I love the look I get I get from the horses when they hear me fire up the mower.  They love the fresh cut grass and I have to be careful to spread the clippings out thinly, so they can't gulp it down and plug themselves up.  Still the look I get from them is one of those life's little moments.

Day 713, Pulling the Traveleze to Bend.

I was out the door at 7:15 am, and had the Traveleze hooked up in 5 minutes.  The trailer had a somewhat majestic appearance as it emerges from the shop and into the early morning sun. The drive to Bend and Flyte Camp is about 25 minutes.  The Traveleze pulls great and you really don't realize it's behind you.  At 14' you can see clear through the trailer and see the traffic behind you, so it is really easy to pull.   One of the punch list items is one of the big cabinet doors doors does not like to stay closed and it tends to pop open and then it blocks part of your view through the trailer.   I have created  foam spacers to hold the wood blinds open so they don't close while traveling and they work great.  I just really like being able to see through the trailer.

Another beautiful Central Oregon sunset.

With the trailer dropped off it was back to the office for a busy day of meetings.  Life in Central Oregon is truly amazing and after a long day at work there is nothing like going home and enjoying the outdoors.  The sunset was spectacular and once again I am reminded at how blessed I am to leave in this part of the country.

Day 722, Monday

The weekends always go so fast and now it's July 16th and the month is half over.  It seems like only yesterday we were getting ready for the 4th of July.  I can't believe how fast time is flying and summer will be over before I know it.

Tomorrow morning I am taking the Traveleze in for some service work, so I need to clean out everything, to give them access to all areas of the trailer.  I had a few things that needed attention and Flyte Camp was ready to button up these last few adjustments.   It's amazing how much "stuff" I have packed into the space under the bed and in the cabinets.  It took me about an hour to get the trailer ready for pulling to Bend in the morning.  I had thought about hooking it up to the truck and being all ready to roll in the morning, but the skies were looking a bit threatening and didn't want to take the chance of hail coming by and pelting the trailer.

Day 711, Visit with my brother.

After the party I made the short drive to my brother's house and spent the night.  It was nice to catch up with the family and see my niece and nephew who are growing like crazy.  I stayed until late morning and then headed for home.

I got home and started working on more yard work, including cutting out  huge limbs from the tree at the front entry.  I'm amazed how fast this tree is growing and I cut out limbs that were 4" in diameter.  It really opened up the front of the house and now I can park my truck under it again without the branches hitting the roof.

I even managed to replace the voltage regulator on the Chevelle, but the Generator light still was flickering on.  I'm not sure what to check next so I placed a call into Rick and he said he would help figure it out, ie, he'd figure it out.

It was a fun weekend and I was sad to see it come to and end.

Day 710, Busy Saturday

A cake a kid of any age would love.

It was so nice to sleep in until 7:30 am, after a great night sleep.  I woke up and started the usual Saturday morning chores and received a phone call from my Mom wanting to know when I was going to help my father prune some vines back on a building downtown.  I had forgotten, or actually hadn't realized this was the day they wanted it done.  Needless to say, 2 seconds later I'm on my way downtown.

With the vines pruned and stuffed in my truck I headed home.  I had several outside projects to get done before driving to Portland for a Birthday party of a friends son who was turning 30.  This was not your ordinary birthday party and promising to be a huge hit.

A styling Alpaca

After a three hour drive I arrived at the family's estate and it is truly impressive.  The them was kind of a blend between child, redneck, meets sophistication.  There was a petting zoo, a huge Slip and Slide, a row boat in the pond, a mechanical bull, DJ and fireworks.  The food was everything from pork, beef, chicken, hot dogs, Mac and Cheese and tater tots.  There was even a Hostess Twinky, Ding Dong, Ho Ho, cake.  There were even cans of spray cheese on Ritz crackers.  It was really an amazing party with about 100 people there to pay tribute to a monumental birthday, well it was really to enjoy the crazy party that this family is known for.

It was a party to remember

Day 709, Barbecue with friends

Christian invited Tracy and I to join him and his daughter for a barbecue at his house after work.  Tracy and I were were both happy to have the opportunity to have dinner with them.  First however, I had promised Tracy I would help caulk her house in preparation for painting her house.  I drove the Packard and stopped off at the office to barrow our extension ladder to reach the high parts of the house.  Naturally it was warm, but I manage to get the worst part done before we had to head to Bend for the barbecue.

Tracy and I ran two quick errands, one to the store to pick up turkey dogs for Tracy and a few condiments and the other to the mechanics, so I could pick up my car.  My leaking power steering turned out to need to be completely replaced at a price I was not expecting, ouch.  It was hard to believe it would fail with just 42K miles, but now it works great and no drips.  Moral of the story is cars need to be driven and should not sit.

Dinner was excellent and it was the perfect summer evening for sitting outside.

Day 708, Lawn night

The high light for today is getting to mow the lawn.  I went home after work and jumped on the old John Deere and mowed the lawn.  I'm not sure what it is, but the lawn is growing like crazy and I had to empty the bags three times.  I let the Chickens out while I mowed and they laid one egg today and one dud.

After mowing I headed over to Tracy's to check on her caulking on the house.  She had started last week and someone told her she was doing a horrible job.  I went and looked and what she was doing was fine.  There are still several boards above the garage that need some caulking but everything looks good.

It was a beautiful summer evening.

Day 707, Concert night

Tonight is our second concert (out of six) for the summer.  I need to take the truck to work to haul the tent to the park and I will needed it tonight for the take down.  I have several meetings today and will be out of the office for a big part of the day.

Today is another hot one and the temperature is expected to be around 95.  This has an impact our on concert attendance as people don't like to get hot.  As it turned out there was a nice breeze and still well over 1,100 people showed up.  Heat did cause the the band's amplifier to overheat and shut down briefly until we could put a fan on it.

I hadn't heard anything from Justin at Flyte Camp, so I texted asking if was still alive.  They had finished two days of filming and he was exhausted.  My little Traveleze was going to go in this week for repairs, but is now scheduled for next week.  I have a list of issues that need to be addressed before it can go again, and I'd like to take it to the coast next week, but I doubt that is going to happen.

With the second concert done, the evening temperature starting to cool, I opened up all the windows in the house and went to bed.

Day 706, Tuesday

This morning I take the Mercedes into the Mechanic to have a seal in the power steering fixed.  The probably with not driving a car is parts start to dry out and then a .90 cent part becomes a $1,200 repair.  The car is 1992 with only 44,000 miles on it, so the steering box has little wear and the Mercedes dealer wanted to replace the entire part for $5,000, give or take a few $100.  I was happy that Marshall's was willing to work on it and just replace the seal.

The work day was typical and I had no plans at home for the evening.  The chicken's enjoyed the evening running free in the yard and digging up bugs.  The corn is now mid thigh high, and the pumpkins are starting to spread out.  The entire garden is really enjoying the summer heat and is growing like crazy.  I even have little green tomatoes.  With the temperatures expected to be in the mid 90's all week the garden should really do well.

Day 705, Monday

It was nice having a Holiday weekend, but as usual it went way to fast.  Back at work there was nothing to exciting happening but it was a busy day.  In all the confusion of the week before, with the 4th on a Wednesday and the parade, we had switched my workout to today, but I forgot about it.  I got a call around 4:30 pm asking if I was coming, oops.  I for some reason thought is was moved to Thursday, but I was wrong.

After work, I went to my folks for dinner.  I had three hamburger patties that needed to be barbequed.  They had also bought a new clock and wanted help hanging it.  I wasn't thrilled about replacing the clock that has been in the house since 1962, but my whining didn't work.

It was a beautiful summer day!

Day 704, Church and kayaking

For some reason I was super sleepy all day, but I managed to drag myself to church.  I had a hard time staying awake but managed to snap myself out of it.

Loaded and ready to go to the lake.

I spent a lazy afternoon, puttering in the yard, pulling weeds and I even managed to squeeze in a nice summer afternoon nap.  I was starting to feel a little guilty about not getting out and doing something so at around 4 pm I texted Christian to see if  would like to go kayaking after he got off work (5:15ish).  He was up for it, so I texted Doug and Tracy too, but they both had other plans and couldn't make it.  I had the truck loaded up with my two kayaks by 5 and headed to Bend to get a Forest Park permit.  I stopped off at Dick's Sporting goods and they don't sell them so I then headed to REI, and bought one.  I then got to thinking I had one last year and sure enough it was in the center console of truck and it was good through August.  UGHH I just bought one, oh well, to late now.

Reflection of the South Sister at Sparks Lake

As it turned out Christian had a customer come in at the last minute and didn't get out of work until after 6 pm.  I was just hanging out on his patio until arrived and we quickly got on the road to Sparks lake.

We arrived and there were only 2 cars in the parking lot.  There had obviously been a huge rain storm and everyone had left.  Now it was beautiful with huge thunderheads all around.  It was so nice to be on the lake and I quickly remembered just how lucky I am to live here.

Storm clouds over Sparks Lake

We spent about two hours out on the water and showed Christian all the interesting features of the lake, with it's many fingers and coves that are fun to explore.  The water is still very high, so there are still lots of navigable channels that dry up in late summer.

Mt Bachelor from Sparks Lake

By 9:45 we were back in the truck and heading home.  It was an awesome way to end the weekend.

Day 703, Painting the shop/barn

The painters arrived exactly at 8 am to start painting the shop.  I have them exactly for 4 hours and they immediately got to work masking off the windows and doors.  It took them one hour to have everything taped off and they started painting.  They had a little over 4 gallons of paint and as it turned out, I needed two more.  I quickly ran to the paint store, where they were out of singles, so I bought 5 gallons.  I figured this would leave me a little extra fro later.

I quickly got back home and they finished painting the shop and they had time to paint the pump house too, so we wheeled the sprayer and they painted it in, no time flat.

Painters for a day from Webfoot Painting.

Back at the shop, they painted all the trim and had plenty of time to do a little touch up too.  They were fast and efficient.  I texted their boss and said they were awesome!  I also texted Tracy and said this is the way to go.  Webfoot painting has a program called painter for a today, which normally goes for $475 and if we had Tracy's house all masked off and ready to go there is no reason why these guys could not paint her house in house in four hours.  I said I would even  help pay, to which she replied "I am not paying to have her house painted".  I had to chuckle and replied back, "no I'm paying to not paint your house".  She replied back with an "LOL" (laughing out loud).

Four hours later I had a newly painted shop and it looked great!

Day 702, TGIF

Even with the so called holiday in the middle of the week, the week seem really long.  I was so glad it was Friday.  The plan for the weekend however called for lots of painting.  Tracy was having a bunch of us come over and paint her house and simultaneously I was having my shop/barn painted by a professional firm.  I had purchased a "painter for a day" at an auction and Saturday is the day.

As it turned out Tracy was not able to get her sprayer or paint, so she canceled the painting on Saturday.  I was somewhat relieved, but at the same time I know she wants it done and I would like to just "get er done".

At the last minute I called up Christian, and Doug, to see if they wanted to come over for a barbeque and they said yes.  I fired up the barbeque and we had a great dinner on the deck, with more food than we could possibly eat. We ended up playing Farkle/dice for hours and my luck was gone and I watched them roll 2000 point hands time after time.  They got to mocking me and laughing at my 1600 point total game scores.  I didn't really care I was just glad it was Friday.

Let the weekend begin!

Day 701, Now summer should really begin

Having the 4th of July in the middle of the week really seems weird.  I was back to work after working the holiday and I'm really ready for the weekend.

I had my gym appointment at 4:15 today and I skipped last week, so I was expecting a little pain to go along with the workout, but as it turned out it wasn't too bad.  Immediately following the gym, I ran over to Flyte Camp to see how they were doing.    They were busy as ever and the progress on their latest trailer was remarkable.  They are filming a TV show, so they are on a tight timeline to get the work done.

Happy to see me.

Back at home, I needed to get the lawn mowed and have that project out of the way of the weekend.  The horses are in the back pasture and they always love it when I mow.  I have to be careful not to let them eat the cut grass or it could plug them up.  It's always fun to be their hero and give a small tasting of grass however.

Day 700, Happy 4th of July

I woke up and there was actually a light frost on the roof.  It was supposed to be 77 for high, so it is going to be a cool 4th of July, which is great for a parade.

The first thing happening today was a guy with a powered para-glider was going to come buy and fly over my house and a few other spots in the area.  He was going to launch from my field and film my house, which I thought would be cool to see.  This guy has flown several amazing locations in Central Oregon and I thought it was neat he would fly my house.  He launched and flew around for a while and then headed over to the river and Eagle Crest Resort.

I headed off to the parade at 7:50 am and we were all set for a big parade.  Our new safety rules were in place and we had a record participation.  With nearly 117 entries, we estimated the parade should last about 2 hours.  The parade starts at 10 am, so we estimated we would be done around noon.  The parade went off with out a hitch and with the 8 block parade route lined with thousands of spectators, everyone had a great time.  We had several car clubs including the High Desert A's and I always enjoy watching these great old cars.

For the evening I invited a bunch of friends over for burgers on the barbeque and then to watch Bend and Redmond's fireworks from my driveway.  It was a great time with friends and a fun way to celebrate the holiday.

Day 699, Getting ready for the parade

The work day was spent getting ready for a parade.  We typically have 80 to 90 entries, but we are already over 100, so we know it is going to be a long one.  We are also implementing new safety rules, so it will be interesting to see how they are received.

The original alternator

After work I drove the Chevelle down to Sears to get it's battery replaced.  The Die Hard battery is just under two years old and it should still be under warranty.  The Sears tech took the battery and put it on the charger and said it would take up to 40 minutes to test the battery.  I wasn't too excited about having to wait 40 minutes for a battery I knew was bad, but that's what I had to do.  After replacing the battery I was scheduled to take the car to Prineville so Rick could show me how to replace the brushes in the Alternator.  I called and told him I would be a little late and would let him know when I was done.  Luckily the battery tester immediately said the battery was bad and I got a new one and headed to Prineville.

It was the perfect evening for the convertible and despite the flickering generator light the car drove great.  It's always fun to visit Rick and there were a bunch of Rick's friends enjoying a drink on the lawn and talking cars.  Rick quickly had me remove the alternator and he then pulled it part to showed me the warn brushes.  He had picked up a set a new brushes and after a little modification had the alternator back together for me to put back in the car.  With the alternator cleaned up and put back in the light still flickered, so the next thing to replace is the voltage regulator.  I can pick one up and replace it tomorrow.

The 42 transmission shaft busted off

Rick also discovered why the overdrive on the 42 Packard was not working.  After having tried everything possible, he pulled the transmission out and discovered the main shaft was sheered off at the end.  This piece had been added on at some point and in pretty poor condition when I got it.  It was disappointing to have spent so much money on "good used" transmission to find out it was in such bad condition.  Rick has spent hours on this transmission and I could have easily bought a good rebuilt transmission for what I spent on this boat anchor.  I made a phone call to the Packard guy in Seattle and said he would send me another shaft.

July 3rd, 2012, full moon

I enjoyed the drive home, and I wanted to quickly wash the car for tomorrows parade.

I washed the car as the sunset and as the moon peaked over the horizon. It was a full moon and it was spectacular.

Day 698, Back to work.

It was a beautiful morning and the first thing I needed to do for the day was drive to Bend to pick up our newsletter.  I was the perfect day to take the BMW and have the top down.  As I drove in, it dawned on me that I will be making this trip three times today and that seemed a bit excessive.

At noon I was back on the road to Bend for a lunch meeting and the more I thought about having to drive this a third time I thought that was a bit much.  I had a great meeting and then headed back to the office.  I decided that two trips to Bend and postponed my afternoon appoint until another day.

1969 Chevelle Malibu is part of the family.

At 4 pm my friend Rick from Prineville said he would come over and help me get the 69 Chevelle Malibu running for the parade on the 4th.  I could not get the car started last fall and it has sat for over a year.  The battery was new and has been on a trickle charger, so it seemed fine.  It took Rick a moment to figure out what was going on and he quickly determined that new battery had a bad cell.  He also determined that the brushes on the alternator need to be replaced and that he could help me replace them tomorrow night.

With the Malibu running on a borrowed battery from the Rolls, I thought I should take it for a spin.  I actually had a few things I needed to return in Bend, so I made that final third trip to Bend after all.   It was a beautiful evening and it was fun to the drive the old car again.  This car has been in the family since new and I feel it is part of the family.  I was only four when my parents bought the car and I can't ever remember not having it.

Day 697, More cleaning

Today I focused on cleaning out the shop and getting the exterior ready for painting.  It took several hours to clean up inside and to blow all the dirt and leaves that had blown in over the winter.  On the outside of the shop, I had to remove all the shutters around the windows and and hose off the building.  The painters are coming on the 4th of July and I have a total of 8 hours time.  I had purchased "A painter for a day" at a Big Brothers Big Sisters auction last winter and they want to on the on the 4th.  I figure if I have everything ready they should have no trouble painting the shop in the time allotted.

I stopped for church and had lunch with my buddy Doug, but other than that it was a day of cleaning.  By the end of the day I had the shop washed, three cars cleaned and detailed, the deck cleaned and I even did the windows on the house.  I finished rolling up the hose at 10:55 pm and called it a day.

I was beat, but felt like I had accomplished a lot over the weekend.

Day 696, Cleaning out the garage.

The biggest part of my day was spent cleaning out my garage.  Over the last several months and even years the garage has collected a huge amount of clutter and I have to clean it out before I go crazy.  My old sofa has been in the garage for over 3 years carefully covered, a steamer trunk from 1871, 18 years of Architectural Digest magazines and on and on.  Most of the stuff just needed to be sorted out and put away in the proper place.  I did fill my trash can and  one large trash bag with junk.

I interrupted my my cleaning to attend the 9th running of the Rockchuck Ramble in downtown.  This the shortest fun run at just over 5 blocks and has become a community favorite.  It was fun to be there and run the race with my parents.  Shortly after the event however I as back to cleaning.

Old trunk has been in the garage for years.

At 4 pm I was invited to an open house of a friend who just moved into a new home after getting married.  I was anxious to see their home and see several of my friends.  I got cleaned up and had a truck load of errands to run on the way there.  I stopped off at a mailing store and gave them a huge bag of Styrofoam pellets, then to the bottle and can return at Fred Meyer to give my bottles away, then to the thrift store to drop off some old pots and pans and finally to my office to drop off a huge bag of recyclables.   I arrived exactly as my friends did and we all walked in together.  I had bought a blue spruce tree as a gift and left that on the porch.

The party was a lot of fun and there was tons of food, but I still had a ton of work to do back home.  I was back in the garage at 7 pm and kept cleaning.  At 9 pm I called my friend Christian and asked if he wanted my sofa, a few pictures, a set of glasses and the old trunk.  He said yes to all and I loaded up my truck and took them to him.  I love the sofa and hated to get rid of it, but it has been in my garage for three years.  The trunk I said he could use, until I move into a bigger home, which will probably be never.

It felt so good to have the garaged cleaned out and everything put away.  I hope I never let it get that out of hand again.

Day 695, WOOHOO Friday

Art walk downtown

I'm not sure why it felt like such a full week, but I'm so ready for the weekend.  I really have no plans other clean out my garage and shop and get the cars washed.  I also need to get the shop ready for painting on the 4th of July.  My garage and shop are such a disaster from months of piling up clutter from projects I have got to take the time to clean up and get rid of stuff.  It has gotten to the point where it is causing me stress, so this is the weekend.

From 4pm to 8pm the downtown was hosting a "Walk the Art Beat", where local merchants hosted artist in their shops and the community walks around and checks out the art.  I always enjoy the opportunity to check things out I spent about an hour after working walking around and checking things out.  There are always things that catch my eye, and I'm always looking for things for the trailer.

After checking out downtown, it was so nice to go home and kick back.  I had nothing on the agenda and I was looking forward to a quiet evening.

Day 694, Thursday nothing too exciting

I think the highlight of the day was mowing the lawn.  I've discovered listening to Pandora on my iPhone and was rocking out to tunes of the 70's and 80's.  There is nothing like mowing your lawn to the songs of the Bee Gee's, Fleetwood Mac, ABBA and the Bangles, what a trip.  Mowing the lawn is something I actually look forward to doing and with the added bonus of great music it was a blast.

With the lawn all mowed and the yard looking particular beautiful it was a great time to sit on the back steps and just admire the beauty.  The chickens were out roaming around and came up to join me.  They love a good cracker and will eat right out of my hand.  Even a young buck was out enjoying the tall grass in the pasture.

Life is good.