Started December 25, 2011
If you live pretty much anywhere on the North American continent you should be able to hear it. Shhh! Listen carefully. Hear it? If it’s not the sound of my arteries slamming shut after our Christmas dinner then it’s someone else. A couple years ago Janice wanted to keep the number of participants small and go for non-traditional fare. This Christmas it was baked potatoes done the way mom used to (no foil), Brussels sprouts, dinner rolls, scallops fried in garlic butter and lobster tails. It goes without saying we used only real butter. If I don’t have a gout attack by morning it will be a miracle.
Oh my good grief, I’m sitting at the computer, cup of coffee to my left and my head sending emergency requests to my stomach asking for a bit of blood flow so I can maintain consciousness. Feels like the tummy may be winning.
That felt like a pretty good start to wishing everyone a most wonderful Christmas. First thing was Da Brudda stopped over with his dog Gizmo. If you look up “distraction” in the dictionary you could easily see a picture of Gizmo ‘cuz I’m not sure what wears him down or mellows him out. They were here for only a few enjoyable hours but no writing happened. By the time they left the sinuses were throbbing and fever was kicking my um, well err y’know what I mean.
Can there possibly be a more inopportune time to deal with sinus pressure, fever and generally feeling like something you step in when visiting the dog park? Christmas weekend of all times. There’s the option of toughing it out, getting antibiotics in the emergency room or Urgent Care Clinic and still being in low gear for a couple days ‘cuz they won’t kick in. Toughing it out, good as any choice. After all, my antibiotic tolerance is high enough already so let the body fight its own battle if possible. Ibuprofen, long afternoon naps, whining and complaining to anyone willing to listen and sympathize, a nice round number so far.
So here it is, Tuesday night, pressure moved from right to left side of the face but not as bad. I actually devoted a couple hours to project stuff today. I’m thinking most of the stuff on the bottom of my shoe is scraped off, if you know what I mean. In a couple more days all will be better or I’ll have a Dr. appointment.
Please accept my belated Merry Christmas. Intentions were good but circumstances got in the way. This household received gifts far beyond material things this year as we decided to do a while ago. Our rule is no more than a $10 gift (OK we fudge a little but not much). Y’know it couldn’t get better than finding the 4 DVD set of the original “Fall and rise of Reginald Perrin” in your stocking.
Oh by the way Santa: more coal? What’s up with that anyway?
Only a few days from Christmas and all the weather guys are saying it’s looking a lot like a brown Christmas. Brown is good with me because if snow were piled up like last year I would be the one dealing with it in our yard. Granted, I had some fun with it ‘cuz making the old “Monkey Wards” blower into a serviceable piece of equipment provided a few Rantsville posts while poking fun at “Murphy’s” infamous law. There was a certain amount of education too: self propelled or not when you walk behind one of those critters you will work up a sweat.
Is being miserably cold while all sweated up a prime example of an oxymoron? It’s one of the best I can come up with. Truth is from my point of view I’m just too old to walk behind a snow blower huffing and puffing, freezing and sweating – and increasing Ibuprofen use. It came down to three options: 1 – Contract with someone (cost $500-$1000 for the season). Not if I can help it. 2 – Find a front mount snow blower for the old Craftsman lawn tractor. It’s an old lawn tractor and a little under powered. 3 – Find a suitable snow plow blade and mount it to the tractor. And who knows, after clearing snow all winter it might could be used for moving dirt, sand and gravel in warmer weather.
Number three it was. Craigslist sometimes has almost what you are looking for and that’s what happened. Murray manufactured our particular Craftsman lawn tractor and someone was offering a snow plow assembly for Murray lawn tractors. It was close but not exactly a bolt on and go. That’s why I said “almost what you are looking for”. When doing this kind of project it is nice to have a small engine lathe and drilling/milling machine ‘cuz fabricating is much easier than when you have only hand tools. Fabricating alternate parts can be a good feeling when everything works as needed.
The ground is a little on the hard side now but some experimenting proved the blade will work for landscaping and grading come warmer weather. Although pleased with the acquisition and having a fully functional snow plow mounted, there is a dilemma: no snow. Am I complaining? Hardly!
That’s right folks, blame Murphy. Once the blade was all mounted and ready to move snow the poor guy went into damaged ego mode. And to pay me back for that he’s delaying snow as long as he can. Plus a friend of the folks next door just bought a snowmobile and seriously wants to play with it. Bet that did nothing to put poor Murphy in a better mood.
To all a merry Brown Christmas and happy Brown New Year, and to all: think spring!
